Overboard
by Kalira423
Summary: A woman humiliates Seto Kaiba. Now he gets a chance to make her pay for his embarrasment. He didn't expect to fall for her. SetoOC
1. chapter one

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Yugioh or the movie Overboard. I had to change things around with everyone's relations and I also changed some things in the movie a bit to make things fit the story and some of the characters will probably be OOC, but I'm going to try to keep them as close to character as possible. So having said that, on with the story. 

Seto Kaiba walked toward the docks of Battle City. '_I can't believe I took this job.'  He thought to himself as he headed to where the boats were docked. It wasn't like he really needed the money. He was the CEO of his own company, but he took the job anyway. He shrugged his shoulders as he came to the water front. He saw a local fisherman and walked over to him._

"I'm looking for the Emaculada." Seto asked the fisherman. The fisherman looked up momentarily pointed to a huge yacht and went back to work. Seto stared at the yacht. _'impressive' _he thought as he walked up the gangplank. He was just in time to hear the end of a conversation. 

"I'm not going to just sit here and do nothing. So while you're making repairs on your silly boat, I've hired a computer expert to help me on my computer." A haughty female voice complained.

'Well do what ever you want pumpkin, I'm shooting skeet." A male voice replied.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Staten?" Seto called. Seto heard the cock of a gun and turned around to face the owner of the male voice he had heard.

"State your purpose." He commanded.

"Nice gun." Seto complimented. 

The man looked at him like he was a speck of dust. "It's very very expensive; I have lots and lots of them."

"Ok." Seto said slowly. "Um, I'm looking for the owner of Staten Enterprises." 

"That's my daughter's department." The man said as he turned to leave.

"Could you tell me where your daughter might…be…" he said his voice dropping off as he realized that the man wasn't going to help him. Seto turned in time to see a beautiful young woman, about the age of twenty five. She had shoulder length brown hair and shapely body. But what really caught his attention were here eyes. They were a golden honey color. But his attraction to her ended as soon as she spoke.

"You're the computer expert!?" she asked nastily. Then without waiting for an answer she turned and headed down the side of the yacht. "Follow me." She commanded as Seto fell in step behind her. 

"Did you bring references?" she asked. 

"I didn't think they would be needed." He responded as she led him through various fully furnished rooms. 

"Resume? Any form of identification?" she asked. 

"Maybe you would just like to take fingerprints before I started!" Seto replied sarcastically. The woman turned and gave him a glaring look showing the twenty seven year old CEO that she was not impressed with his wit. She continued until she got to her room on the yacht. 

"This is the main computer; I seem to be having problems with it." She said pointing to the blank screen of the computer. She started telling Seto her problem while he tuned her out and surveyed the room. It was definitely a girl's room, a pampered and spoiled girl's room to be exact. The computer was a very expensive one, top of the line. 

"Hello!" she shouted at him breaking him out of his observation. 

Seto looked at her. "So you want me to get rid of the virus on your computer, is that it?" he asked incredulous.

"Isn't that what I've been explaining in great detail? What is English your second language?" she asked trying to belittle him. 

"Ha Ha." Seto replied sardonically. He didn't have to take her barbs without providing some humor for himself. He sat down at the computer and waited for it to turn on when a servant carrying a tray walked into the room. The woman turned to face him.

"Well, I _almost_ had to wait." She said bitingly as she took a bite of the caviar that was offered. She quickly spit out the bite as soon as it entered her mouth. 

"Oh, sick! What is this gelatinous muck!" she complained. "Andrew! When I ask you to pack staples, must I specify that you are to pack _GOOD caviar and not this dollar ninety nine fish bait?" she demanded. "Caviar should be round and hard and of adequate size, and should burst in your mouth at precisely the right minute." She said closing her eyes. She opened them as the welcome music to her computer sounded. _

"Computer guy!" she said icily. Seto's eyes narrowed at the insult. "You have twenty four hours, I suggest you get started." She commanded. Then turning to Andrew she pointed at the caviar. "Throw that out." 

"Yes, mam." Came his reply as the woman went and stood in the door way. She turned to face Andrew. "Watch him!" she said in an audible whisper as she turned and left the room. Seto glared at the computer screen. This was going to be annoying working with a witch like her for two days. He thought as he started to work on the computer.


	2. chapter two

"Oh my gosh, you should see the freak that is here working on my computer!" the nasty woman said to her friend over the phone. Seto was watching from her bedroom window, able to hear every word she said. Even though she was speaking in French he could still understand her. 

_'Man, she is something else.' _He thought to himself as he closed the blinds. Seto had been working on her computer for the entire two days. It wasn't as bad of a virus as the woman, whose name was Serena, made it out to be. Seto had also done a little background checking on her. From what he found out, her name was Serena Staten. She had taken over her fathers hundred dollar business and turned it into a billion dollar business. This girl knew her way around a computer. The only reason Seto could think for her to hire someone to fix her little virus problem was because she was too lazy to do it herself. Her mother had died when she was very young and her father had given her anything she asked for, turning her into the spoiled brat she was now. The way things were now her father, Grant Staten, lived off the profit his daughter made, which was a substantial amount.  He also knew that she had a huge love of almost every type of animal imaginable. Even though they were on a yacht the girl still had at least five cats running around the place.  

"Yeah, he's been here for almost two days." Serena said talking to her anonymous friend on the phone. This friend also happened to be a business partner of hers in France, but they called each other to gossip more than talk business. BANG BANG! 

"Look, I'm going to have to call you back." Serena said as she hung up the phone. "DADDY, I was on the phone!" Serena yelled loudly at her father. 

"I can't hear you ditums!" her father yelled back. "I'm shooting skeet." This seemed to be one of his favorite hobbies. 

Serena got up off the little couch she had been sitting on and stomped her way over to the other end of the yacht where her father was reloading to shoot another round of clay pigeons. 

"How am I supposed to complete business arrangements over the phone with you making loud shooting noises in the background!" she whined. 

"Well why don't you go and sit in your room and get out of the sea air?" her father asked trying to get his annoying daughter away from him. 

"Because that Domino City bumpkin is in my room, working on my computer, polluting the air." She complained. "He comes from such a small city, I mean who has heard of Domino. I bet they don't even have indoor plumbing." She said cruelly.

"Oh, I think that they would house train each other." Her father answered.

"Stop!" Serena said throwing up a hand. 

"What!" Grant Staten asked rushing to her side.

"He's listening." She said. 

"Who?" 

Serena looked at her father in annoyance. "That Domino mountain man!" she sneered. "He's been hanging on our every word since he came here." Serena was right. Seto had been listening and his eyes narrowed in anger at her audacity. Obviously this woman had no idea who he was. 

Grant looked at his daughter and rolled his eyes. "It's your project, Serena, you deal with it. The boat is fixed, we can leave whenever you want to." He said as he returned to his shooting. 

Serena pouted for a minute, got up and walked to her room. She entered the room just in time to hear Seto muttering under his breath, probably about her. 

'Well, are we amusing you!" she spat glancing at the computer. "What did you do?" she asked staring at the screen. 

"Well, it's done, it's fixed." He said. 

"I can see that." She replied haughtily. "What did you do to the computer!"

"I made it so that it won't get another virus. It's called a firewall." Seto answered as if explaining to a small child. 

"Hm! A firewall, why am I not surprised." She sneered as she walked into her closet. Seto followed her greatly annoyed. 

"I don't know why aren't you surprised?" He asked weary of her complaining. 

"Because you think that someone like you would use something more advanced than a firewall." She spat.

Seto's blue eyes flashed dangerously. "Well, you see up here in Domino city, ma'am, we don't know much about advanced technology." He said in a hick drawl. "Shoot, woman, your lucky I am house broke!" Serena stared at him in surprise and looked out to where she had just said the same thing.

"You were listening!" she accused nastily.

"Well, it was kinda hard to avoid!" Seto yelled at her.

Serena's eyes narrowed. "Well, you can avoid it in the future, because you're fired!" she yelled stomping past him.

"Oh, you're unbelievable!" he muttered following her. "Look, just pay me the money you owe me and I'll leave!"

"Capt. Carl, start the engines." She ordered. The captain saluted and did as she asked. 

"Your job was not done to my satisfaction!" she said angrily turning to face Seto.

"Oh I have news for you, lady! NO job will _ever be done to your satisfaction." He said rounding on her. "You know what your problem is? You are so freakin' bored that you have to invent things to gripe about! Yeah, your computer was fine! And even if it wasn't you have enough knowledge to fix it yourself. You just wanted to yell at someone to take up your useless nail polishing, toe polishing, rich, witch, sun tanning day!" Seto yelled at her forcing her to sit down and cover her ears. Serena instantly stood back up and scampered away from him. _

"Don't touch me!" she yelled. Seto glared at her. 

"Please, I wouldn't touch you if you begged me too and I am not going anywhere until you…" he was cut off as Serena shoved him off the side of the yacht. 

"Man overboard!" one of the sailors yelled. 

"Keep going!" she demanded. Serena then walked over and picked up Seto's briefcase and threw that over board as well. 

Seto's icy blue eyes glowed with hatred as he splashed around in the water. "You witch, I'm going to get you." He said as he swam toward his floating case. Serena stared at him haughtily as the boat pulled away. 

"I'm quite happy!" she yelled across at him. "And I'm not bored, everyone wants to be me!" she yelled triumphantly as the yacht sailed out to sea, leaving Seto glaring and sputtering in the bay.


	3. chapter three

"He called you a what?" Serena's grandmother asked her over the phone as Serena absentmindedly stroked one of her many cats. It had been about four hours since Serena had pushed that arrogant man into the water and sailed out to sea. It had bugged her that he had called her a witch and various other names. So she did what she always did when she needed comfort. She called her grandmother. Ever since her mother had died, her grandmother had been like another mother to her.

"Serena why do you even care what some man from Domino City thinks about you?" her grandmother asked.

"I don't know." Serena sighed into the phone. 

"Well then, I suggest that you go to bed for at least three days." Her grandmother comforted. Serena's grandmother, from her mother's side, pampered her more than her father did. And that was saying something. 

"Inga!" Serena heard her grandmother say sharply. "You don't shove the food down Shitaki's throat; you place it on her tongue. Don't they have dog's in Sweden?" she asked meanly. Shitaki was Serena's grandmother's dog. The little dog was mean and vicious to everyone, but Edith, Serena's grandmother, and Serena herself. Edith also came from a rich family and made about as much money as Serena did. In fact, it was Edith that taught Serena how to run her father's business when he lost interest in it after his wife died. 

"Daddy mentioned me getting married and having a baby again." Serena complained. "What should I do?"

"Darling, if you have a baby, you won't be the baby anymore." Edith warned. 

"True," Serena said wrapping a blanket around her and her cat. "Well, I must go now. Bye bye Nana." Serena said.

"Bye bye sweetie!" Edith said hanging up the phone. Serena sat and stared at the wall for a few minutes.

"I'm not a witch!" she muttered. "Andrew!" she suddenly yelled. "Are you going to bring me my lemonade or do I have to squeeze it from my hat?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seto Kaiba sat in the back of his limousine as he was driven home. He had finally dried off from being pushed into the water, but he was still angry. 

_'If I never see that woman again, it will be too soon!'_ he thought bitterly to himself. He had just reached his mansion home when a frazzled woman came running out the front door, covered in toilet paper and chased by two dogs. 

"Help! Help!" she screamed. "Bad dogs! Shoo!" she yelled as Seto stepped out of the limo. 

"Buster, Jackson, down boys!" he commanded the dogs as they ran back inside the house. "What happened to you? You look like the day after Halloween." Seto commented looking at the weary woman. "You must have had a day like mine!" he said.

"Monday are the boys first day at their new school." The woman said picking off pieces of toilet paper. "I came to welcome them to the school and what do I get? Toilet papered by your brothers!" she shouted. 

Seto waved this off. "They were just playing around." He said.

"Just playing around!? They were about to douse the toilet paper with gasoline and set fire to it…and…" the woman said starting to ramble.

"Wait a minute." Seto said interrupting her. "Yami and Yugi, are twins right? Well, you see their going through this arson period, and they don't know this, but I am prepared. I have two fire extinguishers ready to go." He said. "I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name?"

"Adel Burbridge. Principle of Domino Junior High. Your brothers are monsters!" she shouted angrily. 

"You won't think that once you get to know them." Seto said trying to keep his temper.

"Where are your parents, while all of this is going on?" Adel asked aggravated. She had been wondering this while being toilet papered. Even though the CEO was old enough to live on his own and was an adult, surely he didn't leave those boys home by themselves.

"They died, when me and Mokuba were very little." He said his voice strangely devoid of emotion.

"Well it is clear for me to see that these boys are lacking proper adult supervision!" Adel said walking to her car. 

"Hey! You don't have to tell me that these kids are lucky!" he said remembering the way his foster father had brought him up.

Adel eye's narrowed. "Fine, you can joke about it all you want, but I am serious and if this isn't fixed I'm going to notify the proper authorities." She said slamming the door to her car.

"Look, I haven't found anyone who will take this job, longer than a few days, but if it bothers you that much; I'll work harder at finding someone who is willing to make this a more permanent job." He said poking his head through her window. 

"Well I'll believe it when I see it! Good day, mister Kaiba!" Adel yelled as she kicked up a cloud of dust leaving.  
"I'm a good brother!" Seto yelled after her. _'Aww, what do you know?' he thought to himself as he headed inside._


	4. chapter four

"Serena. I want to watch something tonight." Grant told his daughter. Serena sighed aggravated as she sat down on the sofa. "Don't give me that, you get to watch what you want every night." He said as he flipped the channel. It was a show that was doing a countdown of the worlds largest yachts. 

"Must you watch that!" Serena complained. 

"Yes I must." Her father answered. "It soothes my nerves. Helps me escape." 

"What you have to escape from is beyond me!" Serena replied scathingly. Her father gave her a sideways look, but said nothing. Serena took a bottle of lotion and started applying to her hands. It was then she noticed something.

"Daddy!" she whined. "I left my favorite ring outside."

"What am I supposed to do about it?" he asked uncaringly.

"Go get it!" she whined.

"I'll miss the countdown." Her father protested. 

'Fine!" Serena said standing up. "I'll get it!" she said as she went to grab her robe. She picked it up off the couch and started to put it on deliberately blocking the TV from her fathers view. Once she had it on she went to retrieve her ring. Walking past the helm she saw the person who was driving the yacht. He had his feet through the spokes of the wheel and turning it sharply from left to right. Serena stumbled out and wandered over to where she last had her ring. She stood on the pillows and reached for her ring. She suddenly lurched to one side, then the other, because of the crappy steering job by the helmsman. This caused her to fall overboard with a yell. 

"Daddy!" she yelled as she hit the water. She splashed around trying to stay afloat. "Stop!" she yelled at the yacht as it pulled away from her. 

"Oh, my hair!" she complained. She looked up to see her yacht pulling farther and farther away. "You idiots." She called out to them as she began to float on her back. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Grant Staten had fallen asleep with the TV on, not knowing that his only child had fallen off. The TV news for Domino came on. 

"Well another good morning to all of you in Domino City, a little excitement happen along our shores of Battle City this morning. Seems a mystery lady was picked up by one of the garbage carriers coming into port this morning." The announcer went on to tell about how the owners of the carrier had seen a brown haired, golden eyes woman floating in the water. They brought her into the carrier, but she had an accident and her head was hit on the side of the carrier. 

'My wife went down to Domino City hospital today to get an interview with her. This woman seems to be suffering from amnesia." The announcer said. 

"Jane over to you." The picture of the announcer was replaced with the picture of his wife holding a microphone in the hospital. 

"Ma'am, do you know your name?" the woman asked an annoyed Serena, who was holding an ice pack to her head. 

"Of course I know my name!" Serena said bitingly. "It's…oh, I know it…get that thing out of my face!" she yelled pushing the mic. away. "What a horrible wig." She commented as she was rolled away. The announcer came on right as Grant woke up. They showed a picture of Serena that they had taken after she was brought onto the carrier. Grant stared at the picture then went to his daughter's room. Sure enough, she wasn't there. 

"Capt. Carl, please turn this yacht back toward Domino." He said as he went back into the room to turn up the volume and find out what happened to his daughter.  
  



	5. chapter five

Author's note- I just wanted to say, before this story goes on any further that Serena in this story is not Serenity Wheeler. Although she is in this story a bit. Ok, having cleared that up, on with chapter five.

Grant Staten followed silently behind one of the technicians of Domino City Hospital. Grant had made it to the hospital in little over two hours. He was now going to make a claim on his daughter. 

"Can she see us?" Grant asked the technician as they stopped in front of a two way mirror.

"Not unless she's superwoman." He commented as the technician adjusted some knobs that allowed them to hear Serena talking to some other doctors.

"You mean to tell me that I have no historical medical records?" she demanded.

"Well, we don't know that for sure…" Dr. Carter began when Serena rudely interrupted.

"Well what do you know?! Extend you teensy little brains a little more if at all possible!" she hissed. 

"Well you see to be suffering from a temporary amnesia. Either from the shock of the cold water or the bump into the garbage carrier." Dr. Carter told her.

"How temporary is it?" Serena asked wearily.

"Well, we don't know that either, but other than that you seem to be in perfect physical condition." The doctor replied.

"Listen to me medical people." Serena said in a low angry tone. "As of now…I have the life history of a dirty garbage scowl and a breakfast of extremely runny eggs over easy." She said her voice growing louder by the second. "Now I refuse…Refuse!" she yelled throwing a plastic cup across the room. "To be incarcerated in this semi-private room. YOU SNORE!" she yelled at the old woman in the bed next to her. "While there are no efforts being made for anyone to contact anything about my whereabouts. I won't stand for it, you hear me?!" she yelled at the doctors as Grant looked at the technician in front of him.

"Is that her?" he asked with a disgusted look on his face. Grant looked at the man's face then at his outraged daughter.

"No, I've never seen her before in my life!" He answered as he turned and strode back to his waiting limo. Once back at the yacht he gathered everyone around him. 

"My daughter has decided to run away from me…lets celebrate!" he said honking the yacht horn.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seto Kaiba concentrated intensely at the computer screen before him. He looked up when he heard a knock on the door. 

"Enter." He commanded as his friend Duke Devlin entered carrying two take home boxes. 

"Hey, you about done?" Duke asked the annoyed looking CEO. 

"What are you doing here?" Seto asked.

"You asked me yesterday if I could bring you some lunch. So I did. I also decided to eat it with you." He said plopping himself down on the couch and flipping on the TV Seto had in his office. Seto ignored this and continued to finish his work. Duke turned on the Domino City News as the announcer came back on. 

"More now on the amnesia lady story…" the announcer said as he flashed a picture of her on the screen. Seto looked up and did a double take at the woman from the yacht. 

"I don't believe it." Seto said aloud.

"What?" Duke asked. 

"That's her." Seto said standing up and walking over to the TV screen.

"Who?" Duke said confused.

"The witch!" Seto said using one of his favorite names to call her. Duke nodded his understanding now. It was that woman who pushed him off her yacht. 

"One man came by earlier to make a claim to this mysterious woman, but he was sadly disappointed." A female announcer said as they showed a picture of Grant Staten walking out of the hospital, shooing away the cameras.

"I don't believe it, he's skipping out on her." Duke commented. 

"Why not, it's his shot at freedom!" Seto replied bitterly.

"Maybe you should go down there and see of you can get some of you money back." Duke suggested.

"Look at him, he's gone." Seto said waving a hand and getting up off the couch. 

"Not him…her." Duke replied nonchalantly.

Seto gave a short laugh. "She doesn't even know who she is. You think she's going to remember who I am?" he asked as his face suddenly lit up with an idea. Seto spun around to face the TV staring at the picture of Serena as a devious smile graced his lips. 

"Oh, Duke, there is a God and he loves me!" Seto said as his idea began to take shape.

"What are you going to do?" Duke asked. 

"I want you to get my brothers and take them shopping for dresses, ugly ones, then take them to that little house we have that's way out in the boonies!" Seto said as he ran out the door. 

"Seto! You can't do this." Duke yelled after his retreating back as he figured out what Seto planned to do. "It's illegal! You're crazy!" Duke yelled as he prepared to do what Seto asked.  


	6. chapter six

Seto rushed home and changed out of his business attire and into his normal black shirt with the white trench coat. Then instead of calling for a limo, he went out to the garage and got his truck. His foster father had bought the thing attempting to fix it up. It looked terrible, but it ran and that was what Seto wanted. Climbing into the driver's seat he drove to the Domino City Hospital. Once there he parked and headed for the front ready to extract his revenge. 

"I was beginning to wonder if a woman like that had a husband." One of the technicians said to him as he led the CEO down the hall. "You know I would have thought that with someone as prominent as you as her husband we would have known about it." The technician said innocently.

"Well, she didn't like to promote it because she was afraid that people would think she was a money grubber." Seto lied.

The man nodded his understanding. "There are some personal items here that you might recognize." The man replied as he pulled out a manila envelope.

"There are some panties that she was wearing with the initials SS. She didn't know what they meant." The technician said handing the skimpy purple underwear to Seto.

"Well, you see she wouldn't because it was her birthday and I forgot and I had to get her something quick so I bought her some at a garage sale." Seto said quickly. He had been prepared with that lie. He had a feeling that Serena was the kind of person who would have put her initials on things and so he had made up the garage sale story. Although he hadn't expected it to be underwear. Buying underwear at a garage sale was just gross. "What else do you have in there?" he asked pointing to the envelope.

"Just a couple of pictures we took. We were going to send them over the AP Wire but now that you're here…" he dropped off as he handed the pictures to Seto.

"Oh yeah, that's her." Seto mumbled sorting through the unflattering pictures. Her hair was all tousled and she had an angry and depressed look on her face. And that was in the photos that she hadn't attempted to cover her face. "Yep, that's my little cookie cutter." Seto said putting the photo's back in the envelope as the technician dialed a number on the phone. "Doc. We have a winner." He said as he led Seto down the hall. Surprisingly Seto was led past the outpatient rooms and toward the section of the hospital used for the psychiatric tenants. He was placed at a table while they went to go retrieve his fake wife. Seto stared around the room as he put the manila envelope in his coat pocket. Across the table from him was an old man playing himself at checkers. Whenever he jumped one, he ate the checker he had just jumped. Seto quickly averted his gaze from the checker eater to observe similar acting people in the room. He looked up just in time to see an unkempt Serena led into the room, followed by Dr. Carter, the technician, and a female nurse. 

"Kanna!" Seto said standing up and heading toward Serena, arms outstretched. He had spent the entire drive up there thinking of a new name to call her. He figured that if he called her by her real name, she might recognize it and remember, and he didn't want her to just yet.

"STOP!" Serna said throwing up a hand. "I don't recognize this man." She said simply.

"You wife has had an almost total loss of memory." Dr. Carter apologized to Seto. 

"I can't believe she doesn't recognize her own husband." Seto said acting upset. 

Serena stared at him and she smoothed out the wrinkles in the hospital gown she wore. "This missing link, is not my husband." She replied haughtily seating herself in a nearby chair.

"Oh Kanna!" Seto said pretending to be hurt.

"Kanna…Kanna" Serena said rolling the name around on her tongue. "No. that's not right, that's not my name." she guessed as she glared defiantly at him. In all truth she had no idea of what her name was, but she didn't like the look of this man, so she was just going to object to anything he said. Whether it was true or not.

"This is silly." Seto said as he closed the distance between them and put his hands on the arms of the chair of where she sat glaring at him. "Listen, I am your husband, my name is Seto Kaiba. We've been married for almost thirteen years…" he started.

"Wait!" she interrupted. "I admit I have forgotten numerous things, but I truly from the depths of my soul do not remember you." She said as she stood up and pushed past him to speak to the doctor. "Now shouldn't there be some spark of recognition?" she demanded.

"Maybe you'll spark to this." Seto proclaimed as he grabbed her and roughly shoved his lips over hers. Serena struggled to get away from the rough kiss until he finally let her go licking his lips. 

"I don't believe this, he could be some mugger off the street." She whined making a show of wiping off her lips. The nurse looked at her stunned.

"Oh believe me. He's not. He's the C…" she started to say how rich Seto was when she saw him indicating not to tell her. "He seems to like you." The technician filled in. "And he's a nice guy."

"Good looking." The nurse said.

"Clean." The doctor added. 

Seto nodded his thanks as Serena rounded on him. "What's my full name!" she demanded angrily.

"Mrs. Kanna Kaiba." He answered. 

"What's my maiden name?" she persisted intent on tripping him up. 

"Kanna…Goolahee." Seto improvised. He hadn't planned on having to come up with a maiden name so he said the first think that came to his head.

Serena gazed at him in shock. "Kanna _GOOLAHEE!" she spat. "Where the heck I grow up? A dog patch?"_

"No No No, you were born in the United States down in Goober, Idaho." He made up. "Well, it's a nuclear waste dump now."

"Where did I meet you?" She asked angrily. 

"Hank's Dounut World. You used to hang out there all the time when you were in the Navy…" Seto began when she cut him off.

"I was in the armed forces!?" she asked horrified. 

"Yeah, I think I still have some of the post cards you sent me from Okinawa." Seto began pretending to search around in his pockets. Serena held up a hand to stop him. "The NAVY!" she repeated.

"Oh, come on honey! You gotta know you were in the Navy!" he said.

"No I don't know, I don't know any of this and I don't know you!" she yelled loudly. "I need some proof." She said as he sat in the seat across from the checker eater who was looking at her. "Stop staring at me!" she commanded him knocking over his pile of checkers. "Eat your checkers!" she spat as she stared moodily at the floor. 

"Look," Dr. Carter said addressing Seto quietly. "If it were up to us…we'd be glad to give her to you, but I'm afraid she's right." He apologized.

The technician looked at him and nodded. "I'm going to need some verification."


	7. chapter seven

Seto racked his brain for something, anything that he could use to prove that he was who he proclaimed he was. He had thankfully done some background researching on her before he had come so he was thinking back to what he had read. Then he remembered as he smiled to himself. 

"Oh, hey I understand perfectly." Seto said as the doctor waited for his proof. Serena stared at him from the corner of her eye trying not to act interested in what he was about to say.

"Well, you see she doesn't like for me to tell people, but she has this small strawberry like birthmark, it kinda high up on her left cheek." He said indicating his butt cheek. "It's unique." He finished as Serena looked away in humiliation. Then with the air of a princess she got up off the chair and walked behind the television set. She then turned and checked to see is he was right. Seto leaned back in confidence; the doctor and technician watched anxiously, ready to be rid of the demanded woman. When Serena found the mark she turned a stunned look at Seto. He clapped his hands then held them out to her.

"Come to daddy." He said as the doctor and technician exchanged high fives.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Mister," Serena said addressing Seto through the back window. "What was I doing out in the ocean?" she asked. 

Seto gave her a glance then quickly turned his eyes back on the road. Instead of allowing her the comfort of sitting in the passenger seat, he had made her sit in the bed of the truck.

"Well, diving for oysters is something you like to do; sometimes you get pretty far from shore, and well that undertow." He finished.

"Oysters in a cold ocean at night, that doesn't sound like me." She replied with a haughty flip of her hair. If was a few minutes after that when Serena started hacking and holding her throat. Seto looked back her curiously. 

"I just…ate a bug!" she yelled. Seto smiled smugly to himself.

"Keep your mouth closed." He suggested. "There are a lot of things flying around out here." He said as Serena continued attempting to rid herself of the offending  bug in her mouth.

They finally made it to their destination. Seto pulled onto a dirt road that was miles away from anybody and everything. From what he knew of Serena she was defiantly used to comfort and anything less than a mansion would just be too terrible for her to imagine. So if he wanted to make her as miserable as possible, he had to live in the worst shack he could find. Luckily he remembered that he did own a small house and that he mostly used it for storage. If everything had gone according to plan and Duke had done as he asked, his brothers should already be there and have the situation explained. He knew they would go along with the plan, they always did. Seto took a while to think about his brothers: Mokuba, his real brother, Yami and Yugi, the twins and Joey. Mokuba had slowly become friends with the boys when Seto found out that the three were brothers and lived in an orphanage. They would probably never be adopted because one wouldn't leave without the other two. And because Mokuba had made such good friends with them and they reminded him of his own situation once he decided to adopt them and they became his brothers as well. Seto's thoughts were averted as he pulled up to the house. 

'Welcome home baby!" he said turning around not wanting to miss her reaction. Serena slowly pulled herself up and looked over the top of the truck at the house. Her mouth dropped open in wordless horror as she started at the house. Broken bits of furniture, garbage and other junk littered the badly kept lawn. The house was in desperate need of a new coat of paint and a few shutters hung down from the dirty windows. There was even a water barrel on the front porch and the roof had defiantly seen better days. 

"I feel faint." She muttered as Seto tried hard to conceal his delight at her displeasure. 

"Come on." He said propelling her toward the house. 

"No," she said resisting his pull. "This isn't right." She said weakly.

'I know it seems that way and a lot of things are still in boxes from the move. I hardly recognize the place myself." Seto said moving once again toward the house.

"We moved here? Deliberately?" Serena asking in a shocked whisper.

"Last place was a real dump!" Seto said as he dragged her towards the house. Seto led her into the house as she stared dismally around. The rooms looked better than the outside of the house, but not by much. The living room was littered with dirty laundry and the TV screen was filled with static. None of the furniture matched and was covered with holes and spilled food. The carpet was stained with mud and dirt. Serena stared in misery at the house as Seto put his hand on her back and propelled her forward. "First why don't we take a tour of the house and see if anything comes back to you."

"Did I just go downhill?" Serena asked as she stepped forward.

"Look at that, it's already coming back to ya. Everything slants toward the bedroom!" He explained as Serena's face paled even more as led her away towards the kitchen. Serena pulled her gaze away from the mess of the living room and turned her attention to the wreck that the kitchen was in. Seto let his gaze sweep across the rooms as he inwardly applauded his brothers. _'They did their job well.' He thought as he took her though out the rooms. Each as slovenly decorated as the last. _

"This is the kitchen." Seto said indicating it as they walked past. "Bathroom, only one!" he said giving her a brief glimpse inside. "And here it is… the old magic room." He said indicating the place which was going to be his new bedroom for as long as they stayed there.  "We've gone a lot of miles on _that mattress." He said giving out a little innuendo seeing how in made her squirm. "Later!" he said as he brought her back to the living room. Seto was about to say something else when he heard a myriad of yells from upstairs as the three oldest boys came charging down the stairs. _

"There they are!" he yelled as Joey chased Yami and Yugi around the table holding a bat. He swung the bat knocking the top off of a popcorn popper spewing popcorn everywhere. 

'Mokuba threw my turtle in the bathtub." Joey said as he ran past Seto. 

"He didn't mean to throw it; it slipped out of his hands!" Yami said as he captured Yugi in a choke hold. 

"Whoa whoa! Guys, look whose home!" he yelled pointing to Serena. 

"Hi mom!" Joey yelled. 

"Hi mom." Said Yami.

"Hi mom." Came the choked voice of Yugi as Yami let him loose. 

"Gee mom, we really missed you. We're so glad your back!" Yami said with a fake cry as Joey gave him a slap on the back and Seto gave the indication to tone it down a bit. Serena stared in undisguised horror at the three boys. 

"They're…they're not mine!" she managed to squeak as she gave a wide eyes look at Seto. 

Seto hung his head and shook it sadly. "Oh, honey! I was sure you'd remember them!"

"Well," Serena began assuredly. "I think I would remember if I had three chil…" 

"Four!" Seto said interrupting her. "Don't forget little Mokuba!" he said pointing up stairs at a black haired smiling boy. He waved happily to her as he leaned out of a makeshift window on the second floor. Serena closed her eyes in shock as she fainted. 

"Well, that's about it except for…" Seto said pausing as Serena hit the floor with a thud. He looked at her then gave a half smile to his brothers as he dragged her towards the couch. 


	8. chapter eight

"Hey, she has been in there over an hour! What did you guys get her?" Seto asked Joey as he went to sit down on the couch with the rest of his brothers.

"Dresses." He responded.

"The right sizes, right?" Seto persisted.

"You didn't say sizes all you said was get some ugly dresses." Joey answered as Seto gave him a push toward the couch.

"Come on guys! Don't ruin this ok?" Seto asked. He turned around just as Serena appeared in the doorway of the bathroom wearing a hugely oversized frock.

Serena glared at Seto as she walked out of the bathroom. 

"This garment can not possibly be a part of my wardrobe!" she said as she pointed at the oversized dress she was wearing. "Let us forget for a moment, that it is a rag that happens to be twelve sizes too large." She complained angrily.

Seto rubbed the back of his neck. "It's…It's not that bad!" he tried to cover-up his little oversight. 

"Not that bad!" she said emphasizing each word. Serena walked in front of the mirror and gazed in horror at her reflection. Her normally well kept hair was still tousled although she had tried to brush it out. She still had smudges of dirt on her cheeks and nose. 

"Well, come on, I mean you have lost a lot of weight! You used to be like a balloon!" Seto lied to cover up the fact that the dress was from the maternity side of the department store.

"Was I also shorter?" Serena asked looking at the length of the dress, which barely went past her thighs.

"Yes…you had a … bad back! You walked kinda hunched over." Seto said as he put his hand on her back and demonstrated how she supposedly used to walk. 

"I was short and fast?" Serena asked dismally as she again looked at herself in the mirror. 

"Look, I'm sure you have a million questions. You've been through hell. So let's take a minute and meet the boys!" Seto said as he led her over to the couch were the boys were watching with humor. 

"Now over here in the middle we had the twins Yami and Yugi. He likes to invent things." Seto said indicating Yugi. 

"Twins?" Serena asked looking at them.

"Yeah obviously they aren't identical!" he said sarcastically.

"I look like crap!" Yami said.   
"Who asked you idiot!" Yugi said as he gave Yami a small slap. This started a wrestling match as Serena put her hands on her temples and began to massage them. Seto noticed her annoyance.

'Whoa, whoa guys!" he said snapping the two wrestlers back to the current situation.

"Yugi and I get along real well mom. My twin brother and I are best friends!" Yami said.

"He's the actor in the family!" Seto explained as he turned to Joey. 

"Next we have the big guy!" Seto said slapping Joey on the back. "Come on Kanna, give it a try. What's his name?" 

Serena looked at Joey trying to think that if she had a boy, what she would name him. "Roy" she guessed.

"Roy?" Seto asked.

"Roy?" the other three mouthed at each other. Then tried hard to hide their smirks at her awful choice of a name. 

"No, Joey! Sweet Joey!" Seto said right as Joey turned the page of the magazine he was looking at. 

"Now she has a body!" he yelled as Yami grabbed the magazine and ran out of the room. He was followed closely by Joey, Yugi and Mokuba. Seto picked up Mokuba as he ran past and turned to Serena.

"Well, I was hoping that you would remember this little guy." He said.

"Hi, mom, my name's Mokuba." He said in a weird sounding voice. Serena looked at him strangely. 

"Is he okay?" she asked. 

"He just likes to make his voice sound weird." He explained.

"I think it sounds cool." Mokuba said.

"Give your mom a kiss." Seto said as Mokuba began to struggle wildly in his arms and scream no. Seto set him down and he ran off to join his brothers. 

"Aww, their great kids huh?" Seto said as Serena stared in annoyance at him.

'Do they have a problem with their glands?" She asked as she lay down on the couch.

"Hey guys, cool it! Mom's home." Seto ordered. Joey stuck his head down from the upstairs. 

"It's not us _dad_. It's Roy!" he said. 

"There are so many of them." Serena complained as Seto took a seat on the edge of the piano that was in the living room. 

"Well, you always had you heart set on six so… we'll just keep trying." He said as he rubbed his foot across her stomach. Serena glared at him as she shoved his foot off her stomach. 

"Dad, they're making me drink blood!" Mokuba yelled as he was quickly dragged back upstairs by Joey. Seto laughed as Serena looked at them again.

"They don't look anything like me." She observed. 

"Well, they do take after your mother; let's just hope they don't grow up to be drunkards too." He said.

Serena sat up from her position on the couch. "My mother's an alcoholic!" she demanded.

"Was, it was horrible."

"You mean she's…?" she asked as her voice dropped off. Seto nodded his head. 

"What about my father?" she asked urgently.

"Oh, he's alive and well, he hasn't been due for parole in what four months?" Seto said.

"Oh man! I don't want to hear anymore!" Serena wailed as she buried her face in the couch. 

"Now come on, if you want to get your memory back, the doctor said you need to get back to doing what you normally do." Seto said standing her on her feet.

Serena looked at him "What is it I normally do?" she said almost afraid to ask.


	9. chapter nine

"I prepared and handled _raw food_!" Serena asked in disgust as she held up the raw chicken by the tips of her fingers. She did not want to touch that thing any more than was necessary.

"I hunt it. You cook it." Seto answered simply enjoying the look on her face as she gazed at the chicken.

"You shot a chicken?" she asked as her gaze momentarily swept from the raw piece of meat in her hand to the smiling CEO. 

"Come on honey, cut it out with the jokes. We're starving here!" he said indicating the boys who were watching her with interest. Serena turned to the stove and tried to stuff the entire chicken into the small pot fill a fourth of the way with water. She then tried to put the lid on the pot, which kept popping off.

"It's almost as if I have never done this before in my entire life!" she muttered to herself as she continued to wrestle with getting the chicken in the pot. Meanwhile Seto and his brothers had lost interest in her struggle and were playing with the spoons. Serena turned on the gas under the pot after finally succeeding in closing the lid. 

"Nothing's happening!" she complained as she peered under the pot. 

"Well pumpkin!" Seto said slightly annoyed. "You have to light the burner." He said giving his brothers a stupid look. They responded with a laugh as Serena tossed them a withering glare for daring to laugh at her. She struck a match and held it under the pot. She gave a yell as the pot was suddenly engulfed in flames. 

"Fire!" the boys yelled as Serena sat in a nearby chair cradling her wrist. 

"I smell hair!" she whined as Seto got up see how badly she was hurt and turned down the gas under the pot.

"It's just a few singed hairs, I'll get the burn ointment" he said as he left the room. Yami and Yugi ran back into the kitchen carrying the fire extinguishers and sprayed the white foam over Serena, completely covered from head to toe. Serena just sat in the chair in shocked annoyance as Seto returned to the kitchen.

"Here's the…way to hustle guys!" he applauded his brothers as he saw the sight of Serena doused in the thick layer of foam. 

"You alright?" he asked her insincerely as he quickly forgot her situation. "Well, at least now we know they work." He said as Serena slumped in her chair and began to clean herself off miserably.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Good eatin'" Seto lied after they had finished their meal.

"Are mashed potato's supposed to be crunchy?" Yami asked receiving a laugh from his brothers. Serena ignored the comment as Seto left the table and headed for the door. 

"Where are you going?" she asked him in a slightly panicked state as he grabbed his keys.

"Out." Seto responded vaguely as he grabbed his briefcase. "I go out every night." Actually he didn't but since he had spent all day torturing Serena he hadn't gotten any work done and he needed to get to the office.

"Don't leave me alone with them!" Serena pleaded with him urgently casting a swift glance at the boys who were playing with the leftovers.

"Aww. Come on Kanna, that's not fair." Seto said shrugging off her plea. "It's the way things are done around here. It never bothered you before; I think you better get used to it." He said callously.

"When are you coming home?" she asked quietly as a wounded look graced her pretty features. Seto felt a slight twinge of guilt for leaving her there, but quickly pushed it aside. She did deserve this after all.

"When I feel like it." He said. "I guess it depends on how drunk I get!" He said even though he knew he wouldn't get drunk. He never drank, but she didn't know that. So having said that, he left; as Serena watched him walk to his car. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How are things with your debutante?" Duke asked Seto as he typed fervently on his computer.

"She is one lousy cook, I'll tell you that!" Seto answered not looking up from his computer. "But as long as I don't have to do it."

"How long you going to keep her?" Duke asked curiously as he took a sip of his drink.

"Let's see…" Seto said looking up momentarily as he did the math in his head. "At fifteen bucks a day, I figure the little wifey-poo can work off what she owes me in…a little over two months." 

"Your first night with her!" Duke said grinning at his little innuendo. Seto nodded uncaringly as Duke gave him a knowing look. A small grin spread over Seto's face as he thought about what Duke was hinting at. 

"I'm not going to say she doesn't have a great body, I mean she does. And her face isn't bad either. But she's too spoiled for my taste." Seto said shrugging off the subject.

"Yeah, well, so is eating an entire chocolate cake, but I wouldn't mind it every once in a while." Duke said watching Seto rise to his feet and prepare to leave.

"Well, I'll tell you this, I'm going to have fun making her squirm tonight!" Seto said closing his briefcase.

"What are you going to do?" Duke asked as he walked him to his car.

"What's that you're drinking?" Seto asked indicating the glass in Duke's hand. 

"Just some stuff I bought at the grocery store that smells like beer, but isn't kinda thing." Duke said holding out the glass for Seto to inspect.

Seto took a sniff of it and recoiled at the pungent smell. "Perfect." He commented as he placed a few drops on his clothes so that he would smell like it, along with taking a small sip so that his breath would smell like it as well.  He then got in his truck and headed for home. 


	10. chapter ten

"Wait! Wait!" Serena protested loudly as Seto came toward her with a grin on his face. 

"Oh come on! You jumped my bones the night we first met!" Seto said relishing the look that covered her face. 

"We did it on the first date!" Serena said out loud more to herself than Seto as she tried to separate herself from him, by covering herself with the covers.

"Wasn't a first date really, I mean we were in the parking lot of the Seven Eleven!" he lied knowing it would make her blanch in horror.

"I'm a slut!" She muttered in disgrace as she stared at the door temporarily ignoring Seto. 

'What?" he questioned. Serena shook her head as she muttered "nothing". She continued to stare at the door till Seto brought the attention back to himself by taking off his shirt. Despite herself, Serena found herself admiring his fairly muscular body. She soon snapped out of her reverie as Seto sat on the bed and leaned toward her. Serena pulled as far away from him as possible, squeezing her back against the head board of the bed. 

'What? No boom boom?" Seto asked figuring she had had enough for tonight. "I guess you want to go right to bed and skip the fun stuff, huh?" Serena gave a little nod as Seto pulled back and went to the door. 

"Yes, thank you. No boom boom." She sighed as Seto opened the bedroom door. 

"Honey," he said as Serena gave him a curious look. "Couch" he said simply indicating the dilapidated looking sofa. 

"What?" Serena asked with a confused look. 

"Couch," he repeated not being able to resist giving her one last bit of revenge for the day. "You see the reason your back is so bad, is because the bed it too soft for you." Seto explained as Serena walked and lay down on the sofa. She gave him one last glaring look before turning over on her back. Seto stood in the doorway of his bedroom smiling in delight at her discomfort before shutting the door. Serena lay on her back as she stared dismally at the ceiling wondering how her life could get any worse. It then began to rain outside. Unfortunately for Serena it did get worse. The ceiling leaked. Serena looked at her refection in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. She saw her pitiful expression as she tried to ignore the droplets of water falling on her from the ceiling. A crash of thunder sounded startling her as she curled up on the couch. 

"I'm a short, fat, slut." She whined to herself as she slowly drifted off to sleep. 

Serena had a dream that night of a party. She was dressed in a black dress that looked to be at the height of fashion. A few men in tuxedoes as well as a few other women dressed in dresses similar to hers milled around the grand ballroom. Soft piano music played in the background as she leaned on the piano singing along with the music. Suddenly the clock struck twelve. The strains of the New Years song filled her ears as a handsome young man asked her to dance. Pieces of confetti filled the air as Serena realized where she was. It was a New Years Day party. She smiled in her sleep as a sprinkle of water hit her face. She woke up with a start remembering where she was as Seto's face filled her view. She scowled at him as he nudged her shoulder. 

"Up, up, up." He commanded as he left the room. "You need to make the boys lunches for school." 

"I don't care if they go to school." Serena whined groggily as she turned over to go back to her wonderful dream of handsome men and pretty dresses. 

"Okay." Seto said shrugging his shoulders. "They can just stay with you all day." He commented knowing that would get her moving. Serena turned back and flashed him a panicked gaze as she instantly got up. A few minutes later she was dressed in an old bathrobe making sandwiches as fast as she could while the bus honked loudly outside. 

"Hurry up, mom!" Yugi said as she got out more bread. She hurriedly smeared jelly over one side of the bread which tore under the harsh treatment. She then applied peanut butter to the other side then stuffed it in a bag. She grabbed a handful of M&M's and threw them in the brown bag. 

"Twin, oh twin!" she called as she sealed the bag. 

"She means you." Seto told Yami in a laughing way. He then secretly handed him a wad of money. 

"Here, I doubt you guys will want to eat what she made." He whispered as Yami grinned. Yami went over to Serena to grab his so called lunch. 

"Thanks mom, your doing a great job!" he lied as he grabbed the bag and left. Serena gave him a quick thumbs up and went back to work. 

_'Wait, isn't he the actor one?'_ she questioned to herself as she watched the bus finally pull away. 

"Well, I'm off to work, honey." Seto said placing his briefcase by the door and turning toward her. "Some one needs to be the bread winner of the family. Oh… I figured you'd forgot so I made it for you myself." Seto said as he dug around in his pockets as Serena watched curiously. "Your list… of daily chores." He pronounced as he drew of a sheet of paper filled with chores. He pushed it into her hands and quickly left the house. 

"Seto!" she called after him as he hummed happily to his truck. 

"Zippity doo da zippity day, my oh my I got a wonderful slave." He sang as he started up the truck and drove off.

Serena slowly wandered to the bathroom and looked at her reflection in the dirty mirror. She looked in the sink and gave a shriek of surprise which was quickly followed by a small sigh when she realized it was the boy's turtle. She then set about the house to do the chores that were expected of her, not knowing how terrible her day was going to turn out. 


	11. chapter eleven

That entire morning was pure torture for Serena. Having been pampered her entire life she never had to dirty her hands, or do any sort of manual work, except for her business and all she did there was type on the computer and make calls. She rarely did anything else. So she just didn't know how these chores were supposed to be done, but she did the best she could. She scrubbed clean the sinks, tub, and toilet. She cleaned the dishes, fed the dogs, and washed clothes on the oldest looking washing machine ever. She might as well wash the clothes by hand for all the good it did. She also had to cut logs, which turned out to be quite an adventure. She pulled out the chainsaw. After finally getting it to start, the thing went wild and all she could do was hold on for her life as she tired to direct the chain saw so that it actually hit the logs. She tore the head off the scarecrow in the process. Along with all of these were other chores. When all four boys came home from school that evening they found Serena sitting on the couch with a blank expressionless look on her face. Her eyes were glazed over and her mouth hung open. 

"She needs food!" Mokuba said as he aimed a grape at her mouth and threw it. "This is fun." He commented as the other three watched. 

"Hey guys." Seto said walking through the door. "What's going on here?" Seto asked pointing to the responseless Serena.

"Nothing, we're ok. We're fine, how about you?" Yami asked. 

"No, no, no what's wrong with her!" Seto asked heading over to her.

"She's been like that for an hour now!" Joey said as Seto knelt in front of her. He waved his hand on front of her eyes. 

"She's getting better though." Yugi commented.

"Better?" Seto asked incredulous.

"Yeah, she's not going bu, bu, bu, bu, bu." Joey said imitating the noise she was making when they walked in the door. 

"I liked it when she was going bu, bu, bu, bu," Mokuba said grinning. 

"Why did she do that?" Seto asked looking at Joey.

"She destroyed the scarecrow, Seto. She ripped the suckers head off." Joey said leafing through a magazine.

Seto turned his attention back to Serena as he waved his hand in front of her face again. 

"Kanna, what's for dinner?" he asked her. Serena's eyes never moved as she once again began to mutter bu, bu, bu, bu. Mokuba looked at his older brother happily. "See, it's funny!" 

"Ok," Seto said standing up. "I'll take care of this." He said as he scooped her up bridal style. 

"Can we just trade her in for a new one?" Yugi asked as Seto headed toward the door. 

"Naw, she's be ok." He said as he opened the door. He then carried her outside and toward the water barrel that was at the end of the porch. Because of all the rain from the previous night, the barrel was completely filled with cold rain water. Seto brought her over and placed her feet first into the barrel. Serena came up out of the water, sputtering water and wiping hair out of her face. Seto leaned on the side of the barrel and watched her with a smile.

"Feel better?" he asked once she resurfaced. 

"I don't belong here!" Serena proclaimed in answer to his question. "I feel it. Don't you think I feel it? I can't do any of these vile things and I wouldn't want to. My life is like death, my children are the spawn of hell and you're the devil himself. Oh man!" she said dramatically as she let her face fall back into the water with a splash. Seto had to work hard to restrain his laughter as he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her face out of the water. 

"Baby! We like you!" he consoled. He then let her head drop back in the water and left. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"She's ok. She's doing the dishes." Joey reported as he entered the living room. Serena had eventually dragged herself out of the water barrel and started attempting to fix dinner without a word. Seto nodded his approval as he continued to tinker with a new type of duel disk. 

"Seto," Mokuba ventured after a minute. "Do you think she'll figure out that we are tricking her and leave?"

"Not if we don't blow it." Seto said casting a glance toward the kitchen where Serena was. Serena suddenly entered into the living room and started opening drawers. She would rummage through the contents and then shut it and proceed to the next one. Seto exchanged confused glances with his brothers as he got up off the couch. 

"Honey, what are you doing?" he asked as she continued to rifle through papers. 

"Looking for memorabilia, scrapbooks, photos, memories of our past together." She answered as she bent down to look in the lower cabinets. 

"Do we, or do we not posses these things?" she asked him standing back up and looking him square in the eye. She held his gaze for a minute before turning to search another room. Seto followed with a thoughtful expression on his face. Serena entered Seto's room and began to look in his closet. Seto followed her in and she turned to look at him.

"Well, a lot of things are still in boxes from the move and I don't really know where they would be." Seto said buying time to think as he crossed his arms and looked at her. Serena stared at his stance in the closet and she had a flashback. A flashback of Seto standing in a closet in that same position, except this closet was bigger. Bigger and more decorated, as if it belonged to a rich girl. 

"The closet." She said suddenly. "And you." She finished as she pointed to him. Seto ran his eyes over the closet and then looked back at Serena as if she had lost her mind. 

"That's right, this is me, and I'm standing in front of the closet." He said slowly. Serena shook her head as the image in her mind disappeared. 

"Something's familiar." She said as a small smile spread over her lips. Seto thought fast as to how to cover up her obvious remembrance of when he was in her closet on the yacht. 

"you got it." He said. "We used to do it, in the closet." He finished. _'That will get her mind off of that.'_ He thought proudly to himself. _'She hates it when I make sexual innuendoes.'_

"Oh stop with the sex stories!" she replied hotly as crossed her arms and turned to leave.

"See, now you're just getting grumpy." Seto said taking her by the arm. "Now I want you to go in here," he said taking her to the bathroom and pushing her in. "Just take a bath and…guys! Get the turtle out of the bathtub! And I'll look for the pictures first thing in the morning, good night, honey." He said quickly closing the door not allowing her a chance to talk back. Later that night, Seto got up and quietly grabbed his key from the table. He walked past Serena's sleeping form on the couch. He looked back at her as he grabbed the manila envelope that the doctors had given him and quickly sneaked out of the house and into his truck.


	12. chapter twelve

Seto finally arrived at Duke's house. He turned off the engine of the truck and loudly rapped on the door.

"Someone better be dead!" Duke shouted from inside as a warning to whoever woke him from his sleep. A sleepy looking Duke opened to the door to see his friend looking at him. 

"Duke, I need a favor." Seto said.

"Duke, who are you talking to?" came a feminine voice from inside. 

"No one," he yelled inside cryptically.

"Who's that?" Seto asked gesturing inside.

"Nobody," Duke replied as his wife Serenity appeared in the doorway. 

"Hi Kaiba, how are you?" she asked sweetly.

"Go back to sleep, Serenity." Duke instructed. Serenity turned and gave her husband a look.

"You know, if you treat me like that I can always go home." She threatened good naturedly as she went back upstairs.

"Don't be like that!" Duke said as he turned his attention back to Seto. 

"Remember how you used to fake our I.D.'s in high school? I need a fake bride." Seto said handing Duke the pictures that the hospital had taken of Serena when they brought her in from the ocean."

"Come on, Kaiba, I'm kinda busy." He said indicating the direction his wife had just gone.

"Not anymore, she's going home." He said forcing Duke to take the pictures. 

"All right, I'll do it, but if we get caught, it's your butt!" Duke warned as Seto walked back to his truck and drove home. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"It's my wedding day, why do I look so annoyed?" Serena whined as she flipped through the photos that Seto had gotten made. Duke had done a good job on them. Although Serena had this terrible look on her face in each one, giving a humorous look to the photos.

"Well, your dad showed up and started being a jerk. He threw potato salad all over my mom, and we had to throw him out!" Seto lied. 

"How come, I always look so upset?" Serena questioned as she looked at the next picture. 

"Well, you were grumpy a lot. Because first you were gaining weight then you lost it. It went back and forth, thin, fat, thin, fat…" 

"Was I always this miserable?" Serena interrupted him. "Wasn't I ever happy?" 

"Well, sure honey, lots. I mean you were the happiest little wife and mother ever. Oh, look here, before you lost the weight!" Seto said pulling out the picture of an annoyed looking Serena with a huge stomach. 

'There, now are you satisfied?" Seto questioned as he took the pictures back. Serena stared at her hands and then glanced at him.

"Yes," she said reluctantly. "I supposed I really do belong here in this…hovel!" she added bitingly. Seto grinned at her remark as he stood up and left. Serena stay sitting on the steps of the front porch staring out at the front yard. "I guess I really do belong here." Serena said to herself. "I didn't marry very well did I?" she added as an afterthought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I LOVE L.A.!" Grant Staten shouted as he danced to the oldies music he had playing. Ever since Grant had told everyone on the yacht that Serena had supposedly _run away from him, he had lived the good life. He had women swarming the yacht who totally enjoyed his company. _

'What's your name again?" he questioned one of the bikini clad women on the yacht. 

"Tofutti Kline" she answered as she sipped her martini. 

"Tofutti I love it!" he said as the phone rang in the background. 

"If that's my mother-in-law tell her I'm not here!" Grant instructed an annoyed Andrew. Andrew sullenly picked up the phone. 

'The Staten Yacht" he spoke into the receiver. 

"Hello, Andrew," came the voice of Serena's grandmother. "I'd like to speak to my granddaughter." She commanded.

"She's not here madam, they have gone out shopping." Andrew lied as he had been told to. Edith hung up the phone slightly peeved at her lack of being able to get a hold of her granddaughter. Andrew hung up his end and continued to serve Grant and the other women on the yacht. All the time wondering what had ever happened to Miss Staten.


	13. chapter thirteen

Serena cast a wary sideways look at Duke as he sat in the chair behind her. She was sitting in front of Seto rubbing his feet. Apparently it was something that she normally did. And according to Seto she better get used to it, because it never bothered her before. 

"Why does he keep staring at me?" Serena whispered to Seto as she leaned forward. 

"He is?" Seto asked feeling uneasy as a pang a jealousy shot through him, but he pushed it away as quickly as it appeared and tried to forget about it. 

"Yes!" Serena said nervously. "He was watching me all through dinner with his mouth hanging open." 

"Well, Duke was your high school boyfriend." Seto lied in explanation. "Wait, you don't get any of the old feelings back when you look at him do you?"

Serena took a quick glance at the dice obsessed man again. Duke had finally stopped staring and was reclining lazily in a chair. His black hair up in his traditional ponytail with a dice hanging from his ear. Duke let out a huge burp, crushed the coke can he had been drinking out of, and tossed in the trashcan. 

"Nope!" Serena said with disgust. Seto nodded in approval as he leaned back in his chair, wondering why he felt so happy at the assurance that Serena didn't find his friend attractive.

"That's good honey," Seto said as Serena stopped rubbing his feet. Serena got up and went to sit on the couch. She hadn't even sat for a second when Seto interrupted her temporary relaxation. 

"Kanna, I think our guest needs another drink." Seto admonished as Serena glared at him. 

"I really shouldn't, but I guess one would be okay." Duke said as Serena went to get him another coke. She walked back into the room and handed him two.

"Just in case." She said scathingly. Duke accepted the drinks without a word as Serena once again tried to sit. 

"Honey," Seto's irritating drawl said as she spun on her heels to glare at him. "I'm kinda hungry, how about some brownies?"

"I didn't make any brownies." Serena protested.

'How about some chocolate cream pie?" Yami suggested.

"I made chocolate cream pie." Serena admitted as she went to go get it. In the kitchen was Yugi sitting on the counter applying something to the bottom of two plates. 

"Is this idea going to work?" Joey asked watching Yugi apply the liquid.

"Of course, it's going to work, my ideas always work." Yugi said proudly.

"I loved it when you glued Yami to the toilet seat." Joey said suppressing a laugh. He turned around right as Serena entered the room. Yugi quickly situated the plated just right and ran toward the back of the kitchen and hid behind the door to observe the fruits of their labor. They were soon rewarded when Serena took the plates and started to head for the living room. She stopped when she noticed the plates were stuck to her hand. She tried everything to get the offending plates off, even hitting them against the side of the counter. She looked up when she heard the not too quiet laughs of Joey and Yugi. 

"Yugi!" Serena shouted rounding on the two boys. They let out a yell at being discovered and ran into the living room. Serena ran after them the plates still stuck to her hands. She was stopped by Seto as he sat up in his chair. 

'What happened?" he asked annoyed.

"This happened!" Serena said angrily as she showed him the two plates. Seto reached out and tried to pull the plates off her hands. 

"You guys are begging for it!" he threatened as he leaned back in his chair. Serena rounded on him angrily her pretty golden eyes flashing dangerously.

"What are you blustering about?! You'll never punish them!" she hissed as she made a threatening motion to all four boys on the couch.

"Ease up, Kanna, just ease up!" he said raising his voice to stop her. Serena gave Seto a death glare. 

"Ease up? Ease up!" Serena said her voice rising in intensity. "Ever since I have walked through that door I have cooked, cleaned, scrubbed. I have waited on you, your dogs, your children, and your friends!" she said pointing to each as she said their name. "In hopes that I would remember some SHRED of my life and now it is entirely clear to me why I have chosen to block it out!" She yelled. This had been building in her for a long time and she was finally getting it out. 

"Now look!" Seto said rising to his feet angrily. "None of this every bothered you before!" Seto said as Serena said the last three words in unison. he always that whenever she made any complaint. 

"Well it bothers me now!" Serena said poking him in the chest with one of her plated hands. Just then Mokuba ran up and squirted her with chocolate syrup, receiving a yell of encouragement from his brothers. Serena glared at the youngest boy with her back straight. 

"Is that so?" she said silkily her voice trembling with rage as she stalked out of the room. Seto took the bottle away from Mokuba and propelled him to the couch. 

"Ok, guys, no more jokes on mom today." He said. 

"Got her right where ya want her don't ya?" Duke teased.

"I got everything under control." He said as he took a swig of his drink. "This one is flat! Hand me a coke."

"I only have one left." Duke protested. 

"Then I guess we'll have to send the ole ball and chain to buy some more." He said with a laugh as Duke tossed him a coke. Serena chose that moment to bring the pie in and held it front of Seto.

"You chocolate cream pie." She said through clenched teeth. Seto gazed at the fire in her eyes as he took the pie off the plate still glued to her hand. 

"Thanks" he said as she turned and left the room. Seto set the pie in the table as everyone began to dig in.

"Honey, we need forks!" he shouted after her. Serena stood in the doorway with a hose in her hand. 

"Sugar lips!" she called sweetly as Seto looked up in response.


	14. chapter fourteen

He quickly ducked and gave a yell as Serena hosed him with water from the garden hose. She had dragged it in through the kitchen window and was finally paying all of them back for her misery. 

"Fire, Fire, fire" she chanted as she continued to spray them with water. The boys scrambled around the room attempting to find something to shield them from the onslaught of water. Serena continued to crow triumphantly as she aimed at whoever had nothing to block them. Seto was completely soaked.

"Get her!" he said as Serena quickly dropped the hose and ran out the house. She was closely followed by Mokuba, Yami, Yugi, and Joey. 

"Thanks for a great dinner!" Duke yelled after her. "Bet she never did that before!" Duke said addressing Seto with a grin.

"Well, she did now!" Seto replied as he smiled at her antics. Serena ran out the front door and into the trees that surrounded the house. She hid behind the house and waited for one of the boys to appear. The boys followed close on her heels, searching for her. Serena waited and jumped out; grabbing Yugi around the waist with her still glued to the plate hands. 

"I gottcha!" she yelled as the other boys heard her yell. They quickly ran to where she was and tackled her. They then tickled her until she couldn't breathe.

"Stop tickling me!" she managed to get out between gasps for breath. Serena managed to get away and run. The boys cheerfully following her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*

"Come on, time to get up!" Serena called to the boys the next morning as she walked into their room.

"Go to the bathroom, get dressed, and…do whatever you normally do." She said as they boys groggily pulled themselves out of bed.

"Will you spray us with the hose again?" Joey asked hopefully.

"Well, that depends." She said ruffling his hair.  "Now get ready for school!" she said giving him a push toward the bathroom.

"I don't want to go; the teacher is a big, fat, cow!" Mokuba complained as he followed his brothers downstairs for breakfast.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Kaiba boys come up here!" Mrs. Burbridge yelled annoyed as all four boy trooped up to her desk.

"Your teacher tells me you don't want to take these test!" Mrs. Burbridge said condescendingly.

"I don't want to be here and I want to go home!" Mokuba shouted at her. 

"You can go sit in the corner, until you learn to respect your teachers!" Mrs. Burbridge said glaring at the black haired boy. "Yami! Stop fidgeting!" she ordered at Yami who had his hand on his back scratching furiously. 

"We're in real bad shape!" Yami protested as he continued to scratch. The other three were scratching as well. Mokuba, who had been sentenced to the corner, was rubbing his back up and down against the wall. 

"Nonsense! Mokuba, Sit still!" Mrs. Burbridge yelled at him. She then folded her hands with a sigh. "Is anyone at your house right now?" she asked exasperated.

"Umm… our mother is." Yami spoke up. Mrs. Burbridge looked at him sharply. 

"You have a mother now? You brother got married?" she questioned.

"Umm… yeah, he got married so they're our parents now." Yugi lied. 

"Well good! Then I'm calling BOTH of them!" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Serena walked annoyed into the empty classroom that Mrs. Burbridge had told her to go to. Mrs. Burbride was sitting at a desk, while the boys sat miserably at a desk facing the corner, attempting not to scratch. They got yelled at whenever they did. 

"Hello, Mrs. Burbridge, I'm Kanna Kaiba" Serena said standing in front of the desk. 

"Well Mrs. Kaiba. It seems as though your boys believe they are above taking the Schorstman and Heimlichan tests." Mrs. Burbridge said condescendingly. 

"I'm sorry, what are the Schorstman and Heimlichan tests?" Serena asked quietly. She was not happy about receiving a call from the school informing her of her boys miscreant behavior. 

"We find them very valuable in measuring the intelligence of young students. The children are slovenly, incorrigible, and are being raised by a father who clearly isn't interested in their welfare, but is himself just a large, spoiled, child who happens to be a workaholic. Joey sit! Your children are a discipline problem." Mrs. Burbridge said cruelly pointing at the four miserable boys at the table. Seto had been standing outside the doorway for during most of the conversation. He had heard what that woman had called him and he wasn't happy about it. 

"I know they are a discipline problem." Serena agreed. "I've had problems with them myself." Serena walked over to where the boys sat looking pitiful. 

"What did you guys do now!" she hissed at them. 

"They decided to play sick. And NOT very convincingly!" Mrs. Burbridge spat at them. Mrs. Burbridge then moved over to her desk to look at some results that had just been placed on her desk as Serena walked closer to the boys, arms crossed. When she got a closer look, the scowl on her face changed when she saw the red spots covering the boys faces and arms. "Oh my gosh." She muttered as she examined them. 

"Mrs. Burbridge would you come here?" she asked sweetly. "Has it escaped your attention that these children are covering from head to toe in poison oak!"

"No!...well, yes." Mrs. Burbridge stuttered when she realized that they were. 

"But what!" Serena snapped at her, going on the defensive. "My children are in need of medical attention, and all you can do it sit there and smugly lecture me on the importance of tests! Test whose results couldn't possible be measured? Least of all by compulsive Huns!" Serena said slowly advancing causing Mrs. Burbridge to back up slowly away from the protective mother figure. 

"And you may think that my husband is a large child!" Serena continued. "But I know he isn't and besides that is none of your business, and these children may be rotten, but they're mine! And I think that they are bright and sensitive, so I have no doubts whatsoever about their intelligence. I do, however, have serious doubts about yours!" Serena finished with a final yell making Mrs. Burbridge fall back into her chair shell shocked. "Kids, get in the car." Serena added softly. "MOVE!" she commanded when they hesitated. The boys grabbed their books and left the room. 

"Discipline problem? My regards to schortsman and heimlichic!" she spat as she followed her boys out into the hallway, not seeing Seto who had heard the entire conversation.

"She sure told her off!" Joey commented walking down the hall. 

"Dad never did anything like that!" Yugi added about Seto. 

"I'm itchy!" Mokuba said.

"Well, what do you expect when you roll around in poison oak?" Serena asked as she ushered them out the door. Seto continued to stare at them until they were out of sight, amazed that, after everything they had done to her, Serena had stuck up for them…and him.


	15. chapter fifteen

"Ok, now I want you to do what the doctor said and put it right on the red spots." Serena commanded as she dipped the cotton swab in the pink lotion. She applied a liberal amount to Joey's back as the other boys put the calamine lotion on themselves. 

"And tomorrow you guys are going to clean this room." She added as she screwed the lid back on the pink bottle. "It looks like a disgrace."

"We like it like a disgrace." Joey said.

"Yeah, dad let's us do whatever we want." Yugi voiced.

"Yeah, well it's starting to trickle down the stairs." She said. She looked up to see Mokuba about to apply the lotion near his eye.

'Oh, Mokuba, honey. Don't put that near your eye." Serena cautioned as she rushed to Mokuba's bed. "See right here, it says, don't get near your eyes. Read on." She said as she handed Mokuba the bottle. Mokuba glanced at the warning label then threw the bottle across the room. The bottle bounced off the wall and rolled along the floor as Mokuba hid his face under the pillow. Serena looked at the others in confusion.

"What's this all about?" Serena questioned.

"He's embarrassed. Because he can't read." Yami admitted.

"Well he's a small child." Serena reasoned in his defense.

"He can't read for a small child." Yugi said. 

"The teacher makes fun of him." Joey added. Serena rubbed Mokuba's back sympathetically as she heard Seto moving around downstairs. 

"Ok, you guys go to sleep and we'll talk in the morning." She said as she grabbed the basket of dirty laundry and left the boys room. 

"Seto, Seto, where are you going?" Serena asked as she looked at him from the top of the stairs.

Seto glanced at her momentarily before returning to the task at hand. "Out." He replied cryptically. "If I can ever find my…Oh here it is." 

"No, not tonight." Serena said as he rushed down the stairs. "We need to talk." 

"I can't I got to…" 

"NOW!" Serena interrupted. 

Seto paused and gave her an assessing look. "You know I let the water thing slide by yesterday, but let's not make a habit of it alright?"

"I admit I got a little carried away yesterday with the hose, but this is serious." Serena said as she placed the basket on the couch and put her hands on her hips. 

"Fine." Seto replied slightly aggravated. "What's on your mind sugar lips?"

"Don't call me sugar lips. I have a name, please call me Kanna!" Serena said annoyed.

"Fine, get to the point, K_anna, Duke and the guys are waiting for me." He lied. He needed to get some work done at the office. It's what he did every night that he supposedly went out._

"You can't keep running out every time things get complicated around here! The kids are sick!" Serena protested to his seeming lack of interest.

"And they have Calamine lotion all over them, what do you want me to do?" he asked exasperated as he turned to leave.

"I want you to take on some grown up responsibility." Serena said as she followed Seto. He turned around to face her, a look of annoyance on his face.

"I earn the money, that is my grown up responsibility." He said. 

"Are you aware that Mokuba can't read?" Serena persisted. Seto looked shock and was about to say something when she cut him off.

"And that Joey will only read those stupid dirty magazines no matter how many times I take them from him? I can't keep that child out of the bathroom." Serena said clearly upset. 

"Come on, he's fourteen years old! If it bugs you that much, I'll build you another bathroom." Seto said as he turned to leave signaling that that was the end of the conversation. But Serena wasn't done.

"They don't need another bathroom! They need guidance, from you. As their father…"

"Don't start talking to me about me and my boys, we're pals alright?" Seto interrupted. Serena looked at him clearly vexed. 

"They have enough pals. They need a father!" she said as she spun on her heels and walked to the kitchen. Seto rushed ahead of her and blocked her path. 

"Hey I decided a long time ago…I mean you and me. We decided a long time ago that we were going to raise these kids naturally. Not force a bunch of stupid rules." Seto yelled incensed.

"I'm not talking about discipline! I'm talking about..."

"Stuff you shouldn't be talking about. Your stepping over the line here Kanna. I mean, it isn't any of your business anyway!" Seto shouted at her.

"None of my business? My children are none of my business?"

"Look, now I'm late. Thanks a lot Kanna!" And with that Seto stormed out the house, slamming the door behind him. Serena winced at the crack of the door hitting the door frame. She sighed sadly as she heard the sound of Seto driving off down the road.


	16. chapter sixteen

Seto didn't get a lot of work done that night. All he could think of was the hurt expression on Serena's face when he had yelled at her. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, but it did as he kicked himself mentally and tried to get back to work. Seto arrived home late that night and walked straight to his room. He was about to open the door to his room, when he paused. _'Maybe I should go apologize to Serena for yelling at her.'_ He thought as he walked over to the couch were she lay. Serena was still up and she hid her face with the pillow and turned her head away when she heard him approach. Seto seated himself on the coffee table and looked at Serena. 

"Kanna, I was thinking about what you said earlier this evening. And I just wanted to say that you might um…you might have a good point there." Seto began as he stared at Serena's pillow that was hiding her face. 

"Thank you, now go away!" she said her voice muffled by the pillow.

"I'm not done," Seto interrupted. "I also wanted to say that I'm sor…that I can't talk to you when you have your head turned away from me." He said as he tried to turn her head around to face him. Serena put up a good fight as she valiantly tried to keep her face covered. "No!" she moaned as he finally gave up.

"Why?" Seto asked annoyed throwing up his hands. Serena paused for a moment then turned over and allowed Seto to see her face.

"Because I'm so ugly!" she said tears threatening to spill. "I got poison oak too!" she said as she started to cry. Seto had to choke back a laugh. She did look pretty bad with red spots and calamine lotion all over her face. 

"Oh come on honey. That's not true, you're beautiful." Seto said when he suddenly realized that he did think she was beautiful. He shook his head to clear his thoughts from his revelation. "I mean we do like the way you look, normally you look real pretty; you just don't now!" Seto said attempting to consol her, but he just ended up causing Serena to cry again and bury her face in the couch. 

"Forget it!" he said giving up. 

"I don't even have a wedding ring!" she muttered raising her left hand. 

"What?" Seto asked not being able to distinguish what she said.

Serena raised her face out of the couch. "I lost my wedding ring when I was out at sea!" she said in a teary voice. Seto's eyes softened as he looked at her miserable face. He stood up and scooped Serena up bridal style. 

"No! I don't want to go back in the water barrel!" Serena whined as Seto smiled.

"No, you can sleep in the bed tonight. I'll take the couch." Seto offered as he used his shoulder to open the door to his room. He strode into his room and threw back the covers as he gently placed Serena on the bed. He then covered her up and turned to leave when he felt her hand on his arm. He stopped as warmth spread through him at her touch. He turned to look into the pleading face of Serena. 

"Please, tell me something about my past." She begged. "Something not horrible!" she said before he could speak, remembering all the awful stories that he had told her so far. Seto sighed as he thought quickly to think up some kind of a story to tell her. 

"Well, there was the time that you used to work at…Burger Boy!" Seto lied as he made up a story to tell her. "Yeah you were working there and some kid started choking on a fry. Everyone in the place started panicking; including me, but you rushed over and performed that Heimlich maneuver. The kid choked up the fry and they named you burger boy employee of the month. I was really proud of you." Seto said making up the fake story. Serena smiled slowly. 

"You can be quite charming when you want to be." She whispered as she turned over and fell asleep. Seto continued to sit on the side of the bed, just watching her sleep and thinking about what she had just said, before he got up and left. 


	17. chapter seventeen

"Party!" Grant yelled as he danced around the room. His life had become perfect ever since he dumped his daughter. He was free, free to do whatever he wanted, without having to worry about his daughter complaining up a storm. He had never realized how much his daughter had annoyed him till he got rid of her. Now she was stuck in Domino City with amnesia, and with not one familiar face, she'd probably never remember who she was. Grant continued to dance around the room of his yacht as he was swarmed with women. He heard the phone ring and not thinking it through grabbed it.

"Hello" he said in a dopey voice.

"Grant!" Edith's voice said sternly.

Grant tripped in shock and fell to his knees clutching the receiver. "Edith" he gasped. "Hello."

"This is ludicrous, Grant. I have called every week for two months!" Edith yelled into the phone.

"And I have looked forward to each and every call!" Grant said in an attempt to suck up.

"Do you have the gall to tell me that I have missed her again?"

"Well, she's sleeping." Grant lied. 

Edith raised an eyebrow. Did he think that she was stupid? That she couldn't hear the loud music and screaming of women in the background. 

"I don't believe you!" she told him as Grant bit his lip nervously. "Grant, if you don't produce Serena in one week, I am going to hire a mass of mercenararies to hunt you down and chop off the protruding parts of your body do you understand me!" Edith threatened.

"I'll find her; I mean you'll have your granddaughter. Bye!" He said hurriedly as he hung up the phone. 

"Andrew, point the boat back to Domino." He commanded to the annoyed looking butler as he sighed and continued on with the party.

"You and I are going to take a little trip." Edith said in a baby voice to her dog, Shitaki. "We're going to go bye bye." She said as she glared at the wall, thinking of what she would do if Grant had done something to her granddaughter.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Heads up!" Serena warned as she hit the volley ball over the net that they had strung up between two trees. She had managed to assemble the family together to play volley ball. She had even invited Duke and his wife Serenity over as well. 

"So that's were me and Kaiba met." Duke said. Serena had asked how Seto knew Duke. She wanted to ask why everyone, with the exception of her, called Seto Kaiba. But refrained from asking. 

"Out!" she said bringing her mind back to the game. "Now, Duke, when did we date?" she asked curiously. 

"Uhhhh…." Duke stuttered as Seto threw the ball at Duke hitting him in the head and creating the diversion he wanted. 

Later after they had finished the game, Seto and Duke were sitting at a picnic table discussing business plans. 

"What about starting a miniature golf course?" Duke suggested. 

"That's good, but what would the theme be?" Seto asked.

"What about sink 'em and drink 'em? You know for the men. The more hole in one's they get, the more they get to drink?" Duke suggested.

"I think what I thought yesterday. It's a dumb idea!"

"What are we talking about?" Serena asked leaving Serenity at the grill and leaning her hands on the side of the table. 

"Just business stuff. Trying to think of an idea for a miniature golf course." Seto said.

"What about far away places?" Serena suggested. 

"What like France?" Duke questioned. 

Serena nodded her head. "May we!" she said as she proceeded to rattle off a phrase in French. She straightened up as soon as she realized what she said. 

"I speak French!" she said surprised. Seto and Duke exchanged nervous glances. "Do I know what I said?" she asked herself as she translated in her head. "Yes, I do. I must have learned that in Paris." Serena said thinking hard, trying to remember. "When was I in Paris? In the Navy!" she concluded thinking back to what Seto had told her. 

"That's it!" Seto agreed. 

"Well, I'm not sure that would sell." Duke said in an attempt to revert the subject back to the golf course. 

"Actually, I think that could work." Seto said getting up to stand next to Serena. "Could you draw me some pictures of what you're talking about, Kanna?" he asked. Serena didn't answer and looked to see what she was staring at. 

"What's this?" Seto asked as he turned to see Yami walking next to a brown haired girl. 

"Yami found a girlfriend." Serena said with a smile. Yami's three brothers saw him heading to the trail in the woods with his girlfriend Tea. 

"Hey, Yami! Don't knock her off!" Joey yelled after him. Serena stared in shock at her oldest son.

"Very funny!" she said sternly to him. 

"Aww mom!" Joey whined as he sat down on the picnic bench.  

"Don't 'aww mom' me. You watch your language young man!" she lectured. 


	18. chapter eighteen

"So what kind of things are you talking about?" Seto asked as they drove to the store. 

"Well, there is St. Basil's, the Russian Cathedral, Parthon." Serena said rattling off famous places. 

"Grand Canyon!" Seto said. "Everyone will love that."

"And maybe you can find a way to work in that Duel Monsters game that you and the boys like so much." Serena suggested. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ok guys," Serena said addressing the boys. "We're going to be eating early tonight, I need to draw some things for your father." 

"Isn't dad going to join us?" Yugi asked. 

"No, he went out." Serena said slightly annoyed. "I think he went bowling this time."

"Really? Because it's kinda hard to go bowling without a bowling ball!" Mokuba said indicating the bag that Seto kept his bowling ball in. Serena stared at the bag as she grabbed it and walked out the door.  Serena drove to the bowling alley and walked inside. She looked all around, but saw no sign of Seto anywhere. Serena walked back out to the car dejected, as thoughts whirled around in her mind. Was Seto cheating on her? Was that why he went out every night? Serena drove home and she passed by a huge company building where some men where outside loading parts. Serena looked and did a double take when she saw Seto amongst them. He was unloading parts out of a van. Serena parked and watched as he went back and forth carrying parts. After a while she drove off, not wanting Seto to know she had seen him, if he hadn't told her that he had a midnight job unloading parts for a huge company, then she would let him believe that she didn't know. 

The next morning Serena woke up to find Seto standing in front of a mirror, dressed in a business suit instead of his normal black shirt and white trench coat.  She wondered why until she remembered that this was the day that he met with the men that would decide if they had a good enough idea to open a miniature golf course. Serena went into his closet and grabbed a tie. She walked up and held it up to him.

"A tie?" he complained. "What do I need to put on airs for?"

"Stop fussing, you look great!" Serena complimented as she stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around him to tie the tie around his neck. Seto froze as he felt her arms around him. She had that effect on him lately. He had no idea what was wrong with him. He had stopped being so mean to her and often found himself just staring at her. Serena oblivious to his thoughts about her, finished tying the tie and turned him around to face her. 

"Nice" she said complimenting herself on her tie skills as she walked Seto out to his car. "Now don't worry, you'll do fine. If you don't get the grant so what? We've been through rougher times that these before." She said as she closed the door to his car and watched him drive off. 

"At least I think we have." She said as an after thought. Then she headed back toward the house and started preparing for the boys day at school.

Later that night Seto drove home to find Serena outside stacking logs on the front porch. He made a paper airplane and threw it at her to get her attention. Serena whirled around to see him as he strode toward her.

"Go ahead, ask me. Ask me if we got the money." He encouraged as he leaned against the railing. 

"Did you get the money?" she asked breathless with excitement.

"We got the money." He answered as Serena gave a squeal of delight. 

"Yes!" Seto agreed as he rushed up and swung her around. The next morning Seto and the boys started work on the course. With all of the help that they had, the course would be built in a couple of days. The construction had been going on for two days and Duke had even come down to help. Somehow he and Seto got onto the subject of Serena.

"Ok, I'm going to tell her. I mean I know it's time to tell her." Seto told Duke as they walked though making sure everything way going according to plan.

"I mean, in the beginning it was a joke, but now it's like the more I lie…I know what you're thinking." Seto said to Duke who threw up his hands.

"I'm not thinking anything." Duke protested.

"Yeah you do, you think I'm not, but I am. I mean I know it's time to tell her."


	19. chapter ninteen

"Oooh, Doctor Death looks mad." Serena commented.

"Joker's saying no!" Mokuba announced as he sat in Serena's lap. Serena was teaching Mokuba how to read and the boy was making great progress. She was sitting in the rocking chair with Mokuba on her lap, holding out his favorite comic book for both of them to see. Yugi and Joey were sitting on the couch working on homework, while Yami was fiddling on the piano. 

"That's right." Serena encouraged, "what's he saying right here?"

"I will re…re" Mokuba stuttered over the difficult word.

"Reduce," Serena supplied.

"Reduce you puny planet to rub…rub…rubble." Mokuba finished proudly.

"Good, that's very good sweetie." Serena congratulated.

"Are you going to leave?" Mokuba asked suddenly. The other three boys looked up from what they were doing to look at her, waiting for her answer.

Serena looked at the faces quizzically. "No" she answered finally. "I'm your mommy." She said giving Mokuba a squeeze.

"But sometimes mom's leave." Mokuba protested.

"Well, I suppose some do, but I'm not going anywhere." Serena answered.

"Good!" Mokuba exclaimed as he pulled out a slightly wilted flower from his pocket. He presented the flower to Serena who gave a squeal of delight.

"Is that for me?" she asked taking the flower.

"Yes. I found outside in the yard." The other boys exchanged humorous glances. 

"It's beautiful, I'll always keep it." Serena promised as Seto walked in the door. 

"Seto, you're just in time. Dr. Death is on the rampage." Serena kidded as she looked up at him.

"Dad! I got an A in English." Yugi proclaimed.

"I got a flunk in math!" Joey added 

"We'll have to work on that." Seto answered distractedly. "Kanna, I need to talk to you. Alone guys." The boys got up and went upstairs. They stopped about halfway up, close enough for them to hear the conversation as they peered down at the two adults. Seto looked at Serena's expectant face as he sat opposite from her on the couch.

"Kanna, I've done something that I'm not very proud off." Seto began. He had been rehearsing how he was going to tell Serena everything. About her not really being his wife, and why he did it.

"I already know." Serena said knowingly.

Seto looked up at her bewildered. "You do?" Serena nodded wordlessly. "What do you know?"

"That you work nights at some big company unloading computer parts." Seto had to think when he heard this. 

_'What is she talking about? Oh, She must have seen me when we got in that new shipment of parts at Kaiba Corp. We were short of help that night and it was imperative that we get those parts installed. The boys told me that she came to bring me my bowling ball and she must have seen me on her way home.  That's what she's talking about.'_

"You don't have to be ashamed because you unload computer parts for a living. I'm proud of you no matter what you do." Serena continued as she laid a hand on his arm supportingly. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

"Well, yes, that's part of…um…no." Seto said searching for the words. 

"What is it?" Serena asked gazing at him. Seto scratched the back of his head nervously. 

"Kanna, I…I…" Seto stuttered as he looked into the pleading faces of his brothers on the stairs, then into the supportive face of Serena. He just couldn't. He couldn't do that to her. She didn't deserve it. 

"What is it?" Serena prodded.

"I…I forgot your birthday." Seto lied as he sighed deeply. 

"It's my birthday?" Serena gawked.

"Come on, we're going out!" Seto said standing suddenly as the boys gave each other a high five. They were keeping her, at least for now.  
  



	20. chapter twenty

Serena danced along with the blaring country music of the club that Seto had taken her too. It wasn't really a club, more of just a popular hangout for the adults. They had a live band every night and mostly played country music, which was just the way that Serena liked it. Seto suddenly appeared behind her as he took her hand and pulled her toward the door.

"Are we going home?" she asked him.

"What?" Seto asked trying to make himself heard above the blaring music.

"Are we going home?" Serena repeated in his ear. Seto shook his head no in response as he led her outside to the deck at the back of the club. The deck was empty except for a few picnic benches. The deck looked out over the pier and the docks. It was quiet except for the occasional cry of a gull, horn of a ship, or the spray of the sea against the wooden deck. Seto pulled Serena over to the railing as he poured both of them glasses of champagne. 

"Happy Birthday, Kanna." Seto said as he downed his glass. Serena took a sip of hers as she leaned out over the railing, listening to the muffled sounds of the band still playing inside. She watched as a ship pulled into the harbor and honked three times. 

"Why do the ships always honk three times?" she asked out loud.

"It's part of a legend." Seto whispered in her ear. Serena whirled around to face him, startled by his closeness. 

"A legend?" she asked breathless, turning back around to stare at the ship. 

"Yeah," Seto answered as he set his glass down and leaned on the rough wood of the deck next to her. He put his right arm around her shoulders, resting most of his weight on his other arm, resting on the railing. 

"It's the story of a local fisherman Arturo, who fell in love with a merchant's daughter, whose name was Katarina." Seto began, telling the story that he was told so long ago. "Arturo had to leave Katarina, but he promised that he would come back for her, and he would signal it was him by three long blasts of the ships horn. When Katarina's father heard about this, he set sail on the morning that Arturo was to come back. Arturo's ship honked the three times, just as Katarina's father's ship went out to sea. Arturo turned his ship around to go after her, shouting 'Katarina, Katarina.' Katarina, yelled back 'Arturo'. So Arturo dove into the icy water as Katarina did the same and they swan toward each other and…"

"Kissed?" Serena asked happily dreaming of the lover's reunion.

"No, they drowned." Seto said as Serena turned to give him a shocked look. "They never found each other."

"That's a terrible story!" Serena pouted looking back over at the sea. 

"Yeah, but the legend is, is that they reunited under the water, right over there." Seto said indicating the spot where the water met the base of the cliff. 

"And every time the spray of the ocean goes up, it's them." Seto said.

"Being in love." Serena supplied lost again in her day dream.

"Yeah," Seto replied staring at her. "For ever and ever." He said quietly. Serena turned to look at him, confused by his sudden lowering of his voice. They stared at each other for a moment listening to the soft strains of the love song the band was playing inside. Seto slowly turned around to face Serena as he put his other arm around her waist, pulling her close. Serena responded by putting her arms around his neck as they slowly danced with each other in time to the music. 

_'You're the one I want…_

_For all my life…_

_Cuz, I can't help…_

_Falling in love…._

_With…_

_You." _The song played as Serena stopped dancing to gaze up into Seto's blue eyes. 

"How old am I?" she asked suddenly.

Seto stared into her golden eyes a minute before answering. "Twenty nine." Serena gave a small smile as they continued to dance. 

Once back home, Serena walked with Seto to his bedroom door. They stopped in front of it as Serena gave him a hug around the neck. 

"Thank you for my birthday." She whispered as she turned to leave and head toward the couch. Seto reached out and caught her hand. Serena looked back, surprised as he drew her closer to him. He stared at her for a minute before slowly leaning in and kissing her lips. Serena's heart raced at his kiss as she returned it, pulling him closer to her. Seto broke the kiss and opened the door to his room, leading her inside. Once she was in his room, he turned to her and closed the door firmly with his foot behind him. 


	21. chapter twenty one

Seto woke up the next morning and turned over to see Serena still peacefully sleeping next to him. _'_What's_ come over me?' he thought to himself as he watched her. _'I started out the day planning to tell her everything and now look what happened.'_ He couldn't say that he didn't enjoy waking up next to her. He did, he just felt guilty. But, hey what would a couple more days of her thinking that she was his wife hurt? He reasoned to himself.  Being careful not to wake her up, he got out of bed and went to see if his brothers were up, he still had one more surprise for Serena. After all, it was her "birthday" and he might as well play off his lie to the fullest extent. _

He came back to his room an hour later to find Serena still sleeping. He motioned to the boys to give him a few minutes before knocking on the door and giving her the present.  He hoped she liked it, but if he knew anything about her, after living with her these past two months, then she would like it. Seto sneaked back into bed and put him arm around her waist, as if he had been there all along. A few minutes later, all four boys began to knock on the door. Serena woke up with a start.

"Come on guys, let us sleep!" Seto yelled pretending to be annoyed. The boys continued their incessant knocking as Seto threw back the covers.

"That's it." He said standing up. "I'm going to punish them." 

"No, Seto!" Serena protested as Seto threw open the bedroom door.

"Surprise!" All five boys yelled as they held out the basket. Serena's mouth hung open in surprise, while Seto brought the basket over for a closer inspection. Serena looked curiously in the basket to see a tiny calico colored kitten blinking up at her. Serena threw her hands to her mouth in surprise and happiness.

"A kitten!" she exclaimed as she picked up the tiny animal. The kitten gave a tiny mew before rubbing his head against her cheek.  

"Do you like it?" Yami asked hopefully.

"Yes, you guys, this is so sweet of you all." She gushed as she placed the now sleeping kitten in his basket on the floor.

"I know." Seto said pretending to be humble. Serena looked at him, her eyes full of gratitude. She loved cats, and even though they had two dogs and she liked their rambunctious behavior, something about not having a cat around her made it not really feel like home to her. Now she felt complete. 

"Thank you." She whispered as she leaned in and gave him a kiss of thanks. Seto returned her kiss as he wrapped one arm around her and waved for the boys to leave with the other. The boys exchanged knowing glances as they closed the door, snickering about seeing their brother kissing a girl. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Sit right there, and don't get dirty!" Serena instructed receiving a sigh of annoyance from the boys sitting outside on the picnic table. 

"It's not so bad to get dressed up every once in a while" Joey commented.

"But I feel like a part of the Brady Bunch!" Yugi muttered as they turned to see Seto and Duke drive up. 

"Seto's home." Mokuba observed.

"Mom, dad's home!" Yugi called alerting Serena. It had been two days since Serena's fake birthday and today was the grand opening of Duke and Seto's miniature golf course. Serena nodded to herself in the kitchen as she moved about doing last minute cleaning. Serena's kitten was rubbing about her ankles meowing for attention. 

"Claws! I don't have time to pet you right now!" she scolded as she picked up the kitten anyway. She laughed as the little calico cat purred against her cheek and kneaded his claws against her shoulder, which was how he got his name. Claws had quickly learned who spoiled him the most, Serena, and stayed by her side constantly. Serena looked out the window as Seto parked the car. She went outside to greet the two men. 

"How can you guys go watch a football game, on a day like this?" she admonished as Duke headed for his car. 

"Easy, they don't play golf!" Duke commented. 

"Watching a game helps us calm out nerves." Seto said. They hadn't really gone to a game; they had gone to Kaiba Corp. Now that Seto had this new golf thing added on to his business, he had a lot more work to do than normal. 

"Well, I'm going inside to get dressed." Seto announced as Serena got into the truck and opened the glove compartment. She took out a rag from there and started dusting off the dashboard when a manila envelope caught her eye. She took it out and opened it. She gave a gasp when she pulled out a pair of women's underwear. She looked them over and realized there were two initials in black marker on the back. The initials were SS.  
  



	22. chapter twenty two

"Honey, could you hand me a towel?" Seto asked as he washed his face. Serena handed him the underwear that she had found in his glove compartment with a scowl. Seto felt the satin fabric and wiped his face with the back of his hand. 

"What is this?" he asked looking from the underwear to her. He was surprised to see the fire in her eyes. 

"No that's my question." She replied coolly. Seto took another look at the underwear in his hands as his eyes widened in surprise. These were hers. The ones that the doctor had given to him in the envelope. He had forgotten that he had placed them in the glove compartment of his car when he had Duke make the fake pictures. She had apparently found them and thought that they were someone elses. 

"I don't know what these are." Seto said playing innocent as he handed them back to her and walked past her. 

"Oh and thanks for putting my clothes out for me." He added trying to avert the subject.

"Oh stop it." Serena said sternly, not willing to let him off the hook.

"This is nothing." Seto protested as he moved around the house. Serena followed him all the while yelling at him.

"Nothing!" she demanded shaking the offending article of clothing in his face. "I give you the best years of my life, I raised your children, I bore your fruit four times and you tell me that this is nothing?!" she shouted angrily.

"You are making a big deal out of nothing." Seto tried to reason with her as he sat on the bed and put his shoes on.

"Well, that nothing happens to be the number one cause of divorce!" she yelled trying to hold back her tears.

"What are you saying?" Seto asked annoyed avoiding her gaze. 

"I'm saying what I'm saying!" she retorted.

"Your saying what your saying, what you want a divorce?" 

Serena blinked for a second before answering. "Um… yeah, maybe I do." She asserted trying to scare Seto into apologizing.

"Well, you can't have one." Seto told her as he walked out of the room. Serena stared after him, hands on her hips. 

"Oh really!" she replied angrily. "I can have a divorce if I want one." She stated as Seto moved around the living room. She followed him and sat on the chair. 

"Do you love her?" she asked quietly. Seto stopped what he was doing, his heart breaking at the forlorn sound of her voice. 

"Do you? Tell me." She quietly begged him as he tried to avoid her gaze.

"Honestly, yes and no." he answered. 

"More yes than no?" she pestered. Seto stood up completely annoyed, he didn't have time for this.

"This is unbelievable" he shouted at her. "How did you even find these…You know what? I'm glad this happened." He said as Serena gave him a piercing look.

"Look, I've been trying to find a way to tell you." He said as he leaned on his hands and put them on the arms of the chair Serena was in. 

"SS is you. These are yours and we aren't married." He revealed. "There I finally said it!"

"What's her name? Sarah, Stacie?" Serena persisted not believing him.

"Look, these aren't yours and I'm not your husband." Seto continued.

"Did you meet her while you were unloading those parts? What did she drive the truck!" Serena asked bitterly

"You aren't my wife and they aren't your children! You didn't _bear_ anything!" Seto yelled trying to get her to listen to him.

Serena stood up completely aggravated that he was avoiding the subject. "Don't change the subject, who is she?!" she demanded.

"Come here!" Seto said grabbing her hand and pulling her to where the boys where. 

'Mom, we're still all clean!" Yami said proudly as Mokuba stood next to Serena. Serena put her hand comfortingly on his head as Seto turned to the boys.

"Okay, I just told her about her not being your mother and I want you guys to tell her too." Seto ordered looking at all four boys. The boys looked back at Seto, not saying a word.

"Go ahead." Seto said annoyed. "Tell her." 

"Dad, tell her what?" Joey finally spoke. 

"That she isn't your mother." Seto said through clenched teeth.

"But she is our mother!" Yugi protested.

"No, don't tell her what I told you to tell her. Just…tell her about the day I brought her home." Seto said wearily.

"She went for a swim, I was really worried. I was up all night pacing!" Yami said. 

Seto glared at them. "For crying out loud you guys have never seen her before in your life!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. 

"Don't you speak to our kids that way! I have had it!" Serena ordered him with fire in her eye as she stalked off. Seto made a move to go after her then turned to the boys.   
"What they heck are ya'll doing!"

"We aren't going to let you ruin everything." Joey said. "We're keeping her."

"You can't keep her. She doesn't belong to you." Seto retaliated. 

"She didn't belong to you either, but that didn't stop you." Yugi pointed out.

"I had my reasons!" Seto argued trying to get them to agree with him.

"So do we." Yami said quietly. They all looked at each other for a moment. 

"We like her, Seto!" Mokuba piped up.

"Oh, you all like her do you? You like her so much that you would rather live with her than your own brother!" Seto demanded to know. The boys exchanged glances not sure what to say. Seto looked at them and left without a word to find Serena. 


	23. chapter twenty three

"Please Duke tell me everything!" Serena pleaded with Duke. She had reached him before he drove off and she showed him the piece of clothing. Duke was Seto's friend. Surely he would know and tell her. He just had to. 

"Who is she? And what did she do to Seto?" Serena asked again, pleading him with her eyes to tell her.

Duke shifted from one foot to the other as he thought of a response. "Kanna, that's my underwear!" he said finally. Serena looked at him with a raised eyebrow and took a step back.

"What?"

"I mean, I don't wear it or anything." Duke assured her hastily. "It belongs to…a…um…girlfriend of mine." Duke lied.

"What about Serenity?" Serena asked.

" I strayed, Kaiba just doesn't want you to tell Serenity so he covering for me." Duke said as Seto appeared behind him.

"What the heck is going on here?" he asked hearing Duke's explanation of the underwear. 

"The jig is up! I confess." Duke said throwing up in hands in surrender.

"The jig is up, I'm finally trying to tell her!" Seto said angrily.

"I just did." Duke said, trying to get Seto to play along. "I'm sorry, Kanna, do you hate me for cheating on her? I promise I won't ever do it again." Duke asked looking humble. Serena looked at him and gave him a hug.   
"No, I forgive you. I don't hold it against you." Serena said squeezing him tight. After she let go of Duke she turned to Seto and ran into his arms. 

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you." She whispered happily in his ear. 

"No, why would I have the underwear in my truck if it wasn't…" Seto began again before Serena put her finger on his lips to silence him. 

"No, don't try to cover up for him anymore. I won't tell." She said as she trotted off toward the boys. The two men watched her walk off then turned toward each other. 

"Pretty good lie huh?" Duke praised himself proudly.

"Did all that just to protect your own skin because you faked a few pictures for me?" Seto asked annoyed.

"No," Duke said turning to him. "I did it to protect _your skin. You belong with her!" Having said that Duke got into his car and drove home to get ready for the course opening. _

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Welcome to the grand opening of the Wonder's of the World miniature golf course!" the announcer said to the large crowd waiting for the park to be open. 

"And here is the owner of the course, Mr. Seto Kaiba!" There was a loud cheer as he walked onto the small pavilion erected at the front of the park. 

"Well, I guess I just want to say that there wouldn't be a Wonder's of the World golf course if it wasn't for the idea and support of a very special woman. And that's my Kanna. Kanna, would you come up her for a moment?" Serena blushed as she walked up the stairs and stood next to Seto. Seto turned to her. 

"I love you, Kanna. And I want you to be with me always." Seto said sincerely as he faced her. Serena looked at him with a small  smile as she leaned in and kissed him, receiving a cheer from the crowd, especially from the boys and Duke. 

"Let's play ball!" the announcer joked as the band on the pavilion started playing and the crown dispersed. Serena broke the kiss and started dancing along with the music when Seto stopped her. She looked up at him questioningly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. He opened the box to reveal a small diamond ring. Serena looked at it in shock then turned her golden eyes to meet his blue ones.

"Well, you said you lost your old one at sea, so I just got you another one." Seto said in explanation as he slipped the ring on her finger. Serena took a moment to stare at the ring them turned to him and kissed him again. Seto wrapped his arms around her and returned her kiss. 

After the opening was over and they were driving home, Serena was sitting in the front seat of the car, the boys were in the truck bed. Seto looked over to see her staring happily at the ring, now glinting in the sunlight on her finger. He smiled as he put his arm around her shoulders and Serena leaned on his shoulder sighing in contentment. When they drove up in their driveway they saw a black limo in the front yard. 

"Who is that?" Yugi asked from the back seat.

"Maybe it's a rich relative we didn't know about." Yami suggested.

"Sure, it's Daddy Warbucks!" Joey said sarcastically as Seto parked the car, his heart sinking in his chest. 

They all got out of the car as the back door of the limo opened to reveal Grant Staten, Serena's father.


	24. chapter twenty four

"Hi daddy!" Serena said happily as she got out of the car and headed inside. "I just have to put these in some water." She explained showing him the flowers that the boys had given her. She went inside the house as Grant turned to stare at Seto and the boys. A few seconds later Serena came back out of the house with a stunned expression on her face.

"Daddy?" She asked in a small voice as Grant nodded. 

"Yes, I remember. I'm Serena Staten!" she said in revelation. "I remember. Oh, Seto! I'm cured! The doctor said that my memory would just come back and it did, I remember everything. Ask me anything. Ask me about my childhood in New York," Serena babbled.

"About my Nana, her name is Edith, and my money…Money! I have money; I have lots of money I even have some in Switzerland!"

"Switzerland?" Grant asked shocked.

"Oh see how I know me?" Serena said ignoring his comment and running toward Seto. 

"Oh, thank you Seto!" she gushed throwing her arms around his neck, as Seto just stood there. "Thank you for making me a wife and a mother and…. Why did you do that!" she demanded as she let go of him to stare at him in shock. Seto just looked at her, not saying a word.

"Why…I know why. You're that computer guy I hired who hated me!" Serena said putting the pieces together as she cast a look at his brothers. 

"And these are your children…"

"Brothers." Seto interrupted correcting her.

"They were your brothers and you made me believe that… Oh, Gosh!" Serena said in shock as she took a small step away from him, holding her hands to her chest. 

"You lied to me." Serena said trying to hold back tears of indignation. "You used me!" "Say something!" Serena commanded when Seto didn't respond. 

Seto stared at her, his heart breaking in two. She was crushed and he didn't know how to make it better.

"Kanna," he began. "It just…"

"Stop!" Serena commanded cutting him off. "I don't belong with you, or them." She added looking at the four boys still sitting in the truck bed. "I have to go and…get my things." She said quietly as she strode back into the house. Seto looked at Grant who straightened his coat. 

"Don't get any ideas." He said snootily. "I brought Olaf! Olaf!" he called as a big burly man stepped out of the passenger seat of the limo and stood menacingly behind Grant. 

"I think we can take Olaf!" Joey muttered to his brothers.

Serena looked around the living room of the place she had come to know and love as home. The rooms looked so much better since she had lived there. They had transformed from a mass of junk and dirty clothes, to a home, with a woman's touch. She stared dismally around as she heard a small meow at her feet. Reaching down she picked up the kitten and sadly buried her face in his fur. She then set Claws down as she turned and went back outside. She made halfway to where her father stood waiting for her when she heard her name.

'Serena!" Seto called as she slowly turned to face him. "For whatever it's worth…thank you." He said as his brothers nodded their agreement. Serena made a move toward him when she felt her fathers hand on her back propelling her toward the waiting limo. She looked back as she slid into the seat and closed the door as the driver started the engine. All four boys jumped out of the bed of the truck and ran toward the slowly moving limo and started to bang on the window.

"MOM!" she all shouted at her as the limo started pulling away. Serena placed her hand on the window trying not to cry as she was torn away from them and their cries, begging her to stay.

"You said moms don't leave!" Mokuba shouted on a final note as the limo picked up speed and drove off. Serena closed her eyes and plugged her ears trying to drown out the sound of their voices as she left them behind. The boys walked dejectedly back towards their older brother who was staring forlornly at where Serena had just been. 

"We should have told her Seto." Mokuba said sadly as Seto put his arm around him.

"She just wouldn't listen." Seto said as they walked dismally back inside. 


	25. chapter twenty five

Serena walked next to her father as they boarded the yacht. 

"Welcome back Ms. Staten." The captain said tipping his hat. Serena glanced at him as she went into her room, trying to hold back her tears. She changed out of the clothes she had on and stood on the bow. Silently staring as Domino harbor pulled out of view, taking her away from what she had come to know as home and the man she had fallen in love with. Serena wiped a tear that trickled down her cheek as she promised herself that she would forget about Seto. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seto was back at the mansion typing on his laptop when Duke entered the room. 

"They won't come out." Duke informed him referring to his brothers. Seto gave a sigh of annoyance as he got up and went to talk to them. He rapped smartly on the door to their playroom as Mokuba undid the lock on the door allowing Seto entry.

"What's going on here?" Seto asked calmly crossing his hands over his chest.

"We're getting mom back!" Yugi said defiantly.

"We miss her." Mokuba explained.

"Yeah," Yami said adding in his comment. "She cuts the crust off my bread!"

"She doesn't take any of my crap either!" Joey said. "I need discipline." 

"This is a job for Doctor Death!" Yugi said naming one of the popular superheroes in Domino.

"Yeah! Doctor Death could do it." Yami agreed.

"We gotta do something, right Seto?" Mokuba pleaded.

"Wrong!" Seto said in aggravation. "She's gone guys. I mean, she hates me!" he said remembering her pushing him off the side of the yacht. 

"She has her rich family back, and we are back at the mansion and that's the end of it." Seto said as he strode out of the room; signaling that that was the end of the conversation. The boys watched as he shut the door firmly behind him, they could tell he missed Serena as much as they did, if not more. They returned to plotting how to get her back. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How is she Dr. Carmen?" Edith asked the psychologist sitting at the piano in the living room of the yacht.

"Will she ever once again be the debutant I raised?" Edith pressed. She, Grant, and Dr. Carmen, a famous doctor from New York, were sitting in the living room of the yacht discussing Serena's amnesia. 

"Will she be one of us?" Grant asked using us to refer to the rich people of the world.

"Serena's memory is almost completely restored." Dr. Carmen replied. "She even remembers the time that I wrote this…" With that he proceeded to play a song on the piano as Grant and Edith exchanged annoyed glances.

"DR. CARMEN!" Grant yelled at his as Edith hit him with her hand. "I want an analysis. Not moon river! I want my daughter back!" Grant lied as he cast a look at his mother in law, remembering how annoying his daughter was before.

"Serena knows who she is, and she is trying to behave that way. Happy?" he asked annoyed that his piano solo was cut short. Just then Serena entered the room, dressed in a formal dress. 

"Ah, my darling Serena." Edith cooed as she entered the room.

"You look radiant, Sere." Grant flattered as Serena cast her father an aggravated look. 

"Please don't call me that. I feel like a Pomeranian." She whined.

"You always liked being called Sere. It was ditums you hated."

"Nana, does Dr. Carmen have to be here?" she asked covertly.

"Aww, Rina" Edith simpered. "Dr. Carmen has been a friend of the family for years and he just wants to make sure that your okay. Just indulge Nana. Come on, sit."

"Andrew! I'm sitting!" she said to the butler. Andrew walked over and lifted some of the poof of her dress as she fell backwards into the chair, her dog on her lap. Grant rolled his eyes as Serena took a seat on the couch. Andrew then went to retrieve a tray with four glasses of champagne and offered one to Edith then turned to Serena. 

"Andrew, I'd love a coke." She asked. 

"A Coke?!" Edith asked in disgust. Serena turned to look at her grandmother stricken.   
 "that's wrong isn't it?" she asked nervously. 

"Nothing is ever wrong." Dr. Carmen commented as he moved from his position at the piano to a chair next to Edith. "Actually, I don't see any harm in accommodating her wishes." Andrew nodded as he left the room. 

"Cigarette darling?" Edith asked as she offered Serena a packet of expensive cigarettes. 

"I don't smoke. Nana." Serena said in refusal. "Oh, wait do I?" she asked.

"Course you smoke, you've always smoked!" Grant said looking at her strangely. 

"Why don't we all smoke?" Dr. Carmen said trying to relieve the tension. 

"Why do I have to smoke?" Grant complained. "I get sick when I smoke."

"Grant," Edith said looking as her son in law crossly. "We aren't interested in your therapy."

"I had my nervous breakdown and I didn't have therapy, I never had therapy!" Grant whined loudly as Dr. Carmen raised his eyebrows in annoyance. Serena got up while her grandmother and father were arguing and retrieved a tray that had little snacks on them. She picked it up and took it to her grandmother. 

"Nana, would you like one?" she asked. 

"I'd love one!" Dr. Carmen said reaching for one as Grant intercepted his hand.

"Put that down!" Grant ordered taking the tray out of her hands. "Good gracious, Serena, we have servants for that."

"Now, really this had gone on too far!" Edith said. 

"Yes," Dr. Carmen said professionally. "What motivated you to rise and go get the serving tray?" Serena looked at them wringing her hands nervously. 

"Well, I thought that you all might be hungry." She said simply.

"Excellent, just excellent." Dr. Carmen muttered.   
"What's excellent about it?" Grant asked crossly. 

"I was hungry." Dr. Carmen answered. Grant looked at him angrily. "Who cares if you were hungry. My daughter has turned herself into a waitress."

"My granddaughter is a waitress?" Edith asked as if it were the worst thing in the world. While there were talking Andrew had brought in Serena coke and handed it to her. Serena took the coke as Dr. Carmen instructed them to be quite and watch what she did. Serena popped the tab and took a big gulp and sighed as the carbonation tickled her nose. "Ah, good stuff." She muttered as she noticed everyone looking at her strangely. 

"I'll stay here a couple more days." Dr. Carmen muttered to Edith who nodded worried about her granddaughter.


	26. chapter twenty six

"So I got so mad that I squirted them with the water hose!" Serena said receiving a laugh from the crew members that she was talking too. She had gone to the kitchen to find a handful of the engine crew sitting there and talking and she felt more at home with them, than her stuffy father and grandmother. It wasn't that she didn't love them. She just got annoyed with how they acted like they were better than everyone because they had money, and how they walked on eggshells around her. She wasn't a china doll that would break. Just then she heard the bell causing the crew members to look at the watch and leave. 

"Great story." One of the crew members said as they leaved for their shift. Andrew who was with them, smiled as he picked up a pair of ruby earrings and handed them to her. 

"Here Madam, you don't want to lose these again." He commented as she took them. 

"Again?" she wondered. Andrew looked at her apologetically. 

"With my apologies, 'Andrew, I seemed to have lost my ruby earrings somewhere between yesterday afternoon and now. Find Them!'" Andrew said imitating her snooty manner as Serena looked on in shock. 

"I've behaved so badly." She said sadly causing Andrew to look at her funny. He hadn't expected this kind of a response from her. "You have done so many wonderful things for me and I never once said thank you. I'm sorry." She apologized genuinely. 

"Apology accepted madam." Andrew said looking shocked. 

"Everyone here thinks I'm crazy." She admitted. "Do you think they are right?"

"Oh no madam!" Andrew said urgently. "You see most of us go through life, only knowing the ways of the station we were born into. You, on the other hand, have a had a chance to see how others live, even if only for a moment. How you choose to use that information is up to you." Andrew replied philosophically as he left the room. Serena stared at the counter top, thinking about what he had just said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seto took off of work early that night. There wasn't any use in staying. He couldn't concentrate. He missed her. A lot. Going home just wasn't the same with only the boys to welcome you. He thought about her while he was driving home. When he came to a decision. He wasn't going to let her go without a fight. He reached home and pounded on the door of the boy's playroom. 

"Who is it?" Yugi asked. 

"Doctor Death! Lets go!" he responded. The boys cheered as they rushed outside. They were going to go get her. Seto didn't have a boat because he never needed one, but Duke had connections with the coast guard. They agreed to let them use their boat, provided they were still on it, to go after Serena. 

It would take them all night, but they might be able to catch up to the yacht.  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Serena stared out over the choppy water late that night, looking in the direction of Domino. She couldn't take it anymore. It hurt to be away from him, from all of them to much. She turned and headed for the bridge. 

"Capt. Carl, we never have had time to talk." She began.

"No we haven't." He replied as she brushed past him.   
"Well, there's no time now." She said as she began spinning the wheel. 

"What are you doing?" the captain asked perplexed. 

"I'm going home!" she replied as she turned the boat around and gave specific orders the wake her up when they reached Domino.


	27. chapter twenty seven

Grant woke up the next morning and started getting dressed. He had just put on his jacket as he happened to glance outside the window. He did a double take and picked up the phone to talk to the Capt.

"Capt Carl! Why is the land on the wrong side of the yacht?" he demanded to know. He listened to his answer as his face took on a look of surprise and anger.

"Oh she did!" he said hanging up the phone. "Well, we'll just see about that." He muttered walking out of his room to confront his daughter. He found her staring out over the see in the direction they were headed. 

"I supposed we are heading back to Domino!" he commented from behind her. Serena turned around with a pained expression on her face. 

"Yes," she answered softly. 

"To him!" Grant spat out. 

"Yes," she answered again. "I'm sorry." She added. 

"You haven't even begun to be sorry, you hillbilly wanna be!" he insulted as he pushed past her to head for the captains wheel. Serena followed him, bent on making her father understand. Grant took the captain hat from him and told the entire bridge that he was in charge as he sat majestically behind that wheel, and turned the wheel to head away from Domino. 

"It doesn't matter what you do, I'm going back to him." Serena said to her father defiantly.

"Don't be ridiculous, nobody leaves a Staten!" Grant commented ignoring his daughter. 

"I love Seto, father!" Serena protested. 

"What does love got to do with it?" Grant asked.

"Everything!" Serena answered. Grant turned in his chair to stare at his daughter with surprise. 

"You would actually prefer to live in squalor with that cave dweller." Grant asked amazed that she would be willing to give up the comfort that she had here to live with that computer guy. Of course, he and Serena still didn't know that Seto Kaiba had a very productive business. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Grant wouldn't have let Serena leave anyway. If she left, then she would take the business along with her and he wouldn't have any sort of lively hood and there went his extravagant lifestyle. 

Serena didn't know how to answer her father's question as she turned away. 

'You really would! They should have kept you in the psycho ward of that hospital." Grant commented as she turned back to steering the ship. Serena turned to stare at her father when she heard what he had to say. 

"What!?" she demanded to know. Grant realized that he had given himself away as he turned his head away from her. 

"You left me there didn't you!" Serena figured out. "You snake! My own father! How could you be such a jerk to your own daughter?" 

"Call me all the names you want!" Grant said standing up to face her. "But many women adore me! You want to know what I was doing while you were gone? I'll tell you daughter dearest. I was out partying all the time, not having to deal with your constant whining. Yes, I did leave you there so what? We are at sea. And I'm a god at sea." After having said that Grant started pushing random buttons on the control panel causing the wind shield wipers to turn on and various things like that.  Serena turned to leave as Dr. Carmen entered the room. Serena ran to him.

"Dr. Carmen, you need to help my father he's having another nervous breakdown. He thinks he's god!" Dr. Carmen nodded as Serena left the room. Dr. Carmen walked over to Grant. 

'Carmen!" he said. "DO you have a straight jacket?"

"I always carry one with me, yes."

"Good, put my daughter in it!" Grant ordered as he turned back to playing with the controls.   
"Grant, you're overwrought. I don't have what I normally give too… oh here take one of mine!" Dr. Carmen said as he dug around in his pockets. Serena had made down to the engine room as she talked to another crew worker trying to get him to understand that she needed to get the boat stopped. She had just managed to get it to stop when she heard it. 

"HONK HONK HONK" came three long blasts of a boat horn. 

"He's here!" she said excitedly. "He's here!" she yelled as she ran toward the front of the boat.


	28. chapter twenty eight

Seto continued to honk the boat horn as they neared the yacht. Mokuba got on the intercom and got connected with Serena's yacht. 

"Stop that boat this minute and let me get my mom!" Mokuba yelled. 

"He came for me." Serena said happily as she ran to the edge of the yacht and looked at them through some binoculars. 

"She's behind this!" Grant said to himself. "I'm going to put a stop to this." He said angrily as he ran to his room. 

Serena waved happily to the boys as they waved back. 

"What does the manual say?" one of the coast guard officers asked another who was looking through a book.

"There's nothing in the manual about proper procedures for pulling another boat aside and telling a passenger that you love them sir!" he protested flipping through the book.

"Well, get your nose in there and find something Lucas!" he ordered as the little boat neared the yacht. Serena smiled as she watched them get closer when the coast guard boat started to turn away. 

"Hey," Seto yelled angrily. "What's going on? Why are we turning around?" he asked Duke. 

"We're going after salmon poachers!" Duke said after talking to his friend. Seto looked back as the yacht started to get farther away. 

"He's leaving!" Serena said sadly to Andrew as he came up to see what was going on. 

Seto ran to the end of the boat and jumped on the railing. 

"Katarina!" he yelled out using the name of the girl in the story he had told Serena. Seto then jumped off the boat and started swimming toward the yacht. 

"Man overboard!" Lucas yelled as the little coast guard boat turned around to pick him up.

"Arturo!" Serena yelled back as she ran toward the edge to do the same as Seto. But she was stopped as Andrew grabbed her wrist. 

"Oh no madam. I can not let you do this." He said as he dragged her toward one of the lifeboats. "Not without a life jacket." He said as he put a life jacket on her. 

"Seto, I'm coming." She called as Andrew finished strapping her to the life jacket. 

"Madam, you really should play a little hard to get." Andrew advised as he finished. 

"Tell Nana, I'll call her." Serena instructed as she jumped off the edge and swam toward Seto. 

"Woman overboard!" Lucas yelled as they neared them. 

"Halt!" Grant yelled as he aimed a pellet gun at Serena, intending to pop her lifejacket. "Conspiring with the enemy at sea is mutiny." Andrew turned to see Grant about to shoot Serena when he came up behind him and gave him a kick from behind. Grant lost his balance and fell off the side of the yacht. Grant sputtered in the water as another shout of "Man overboard" filled the air. Seto and Serena continued to swim toward each other ignoring all of the action happening around them. They met in the middle as Seto kissed her on the lips. 

"Seto, I love you." Serena said breaking the kiss.

"I love you too. You're my Kanna, and you always will be."  Seto answered as he kissed her again.

"Man overboard is kissing woman overboard!" Lucas yelled as Grant got pulled back into the yacht, sopping wet. 

"It's a hell of a day at sea, sir!"

"You know what this means Seto?" Serena asked as the coast guard pulled them out of the water. "We can move out of the little house."

"Actually we already have." Seto answered as Serena gave him a questioning look. 

"The truth is that I am the CEO of KaibaCorp. And make the same amount of income as you do." Serena stared at him in surprise as she slowly smiled and hugged him. 

Once back on the coast guard boat and being greeted by the boys, Serena and Seto stood at the front of the boat, wrapped in blankets, holding each other, the wind blowing at their hair.

"What are the boys doing?" Serena asked as she looked at them sitting in a row scribbling on pads of paper.

"Well, since we now have two sources of income, they are fixing their Christmas lists." He explained as Serena gave a laugh. 

"But that gets me to thinking though." Seto added. "What could I possibly give you…ever… that you don't already have?" Serena looked at him then at the boys and then turned back to him. 

"A little girl." She answered as Seto smiled and kissed her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Authors Note- Hey, I hope you all enjoyed this story and please let me know what you thought of the story. For those of you who have read Love's Never Ending Faith, I'm working on the sequel as we speak and I hope to be able to post it soon. So be on the look out for that story and if you have any questions or comments please be sure to e-mail me. I love hearing from you guys. 


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